BUSINESS NEWS


STEM skills gap leaves jobs open


BY JON GRIFFIN A


Jaguar Land Rover executive has made an urgent plea to the


Government to work with industry to help fill up to 5,000 vacancies


across the UK automotive sector. Jo Lopes, Head of Technical


Excellence at the Midlands’ biggest manufacturer, threw down the gauntlet to Downing Street in the wake of a report from the Automotive Council which revealed that 5,000 jobs were going begging in the car sector. Meanwhile, David Tomalin, Skills


Hub Manager, said the UK was ‘creating its own skills gap’ by bending to the demand for ‘fashionable’ qualifications rather than tackling the shortage of knowhow. The report, drawn up by


automotive industry consultants SMMT Industry Forum on behalf of the Automotive Industrial Partnership, said nearly one in five of the unfilled vacancies cited in the report were identified as ‘critical.’


The skills crisis has forced


automotive firms to hire temporary contractors and increasingly recruit from abroad, according to the report.


‘Promotion of STEM subjects should be encouraged’


Jo Lopes, who is chair of the Automotive Industrial Partnership, said: “These are very significant findings which present a valuable basis for government and industry to jointly tackle this issue head-on and ensure that the growth potential of the industry in the coming years is fulfilled.” David Tomalin said: “ Promotion


of STEM subjects, to young people but especially to young females should be encouraged, but I fear it will be too little, too late to address the skills shortfall being experienced in the automotive sector. Support to quickly develop the skills needed should be led by a campaign to young people that illustrates the vast range of opportunities available.”


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Mike Padbury (left) and Janice Hamilton (third right) with teachers from the Jemus Jungkung Jammeh Memorial Nursery and Lower Basic School


Fund-raisers honoured


Two members of staff at The Sixth Form College, Solihull have been honoured by a town in The Gambia, after raising more than £20,000 for a school in the country. Vice principal Janice Hamilton and assistant principal Mike Padbury


have been made honorary citizens of Abuko for their fund-raising work for the Jemus Jungkung Jammeh Memorial Nursery and Lower Basic School. They have been leading trips to the school for the last three years and are currently recruiting for the 2016 trip. Janice said: “Back in 2013, we were delighted to join this project,


started by Hamstead Hall School in Handsworth Wood. We took ten students out to the school in that first year, together with pupils from Hamstead Hall School, but it has grown since then.” As well as fund-raising through the year, the college prepares its


students to teach the youngsters when they get out to Africa. Both Janice and Mike have been presented with certificates for the


fund-raising work signed by Tombong Jatta who represents Serekunda East on the Gambian National Assembly, Picka Jallow, councillor for the Abuko district and Boto Tamba, the local chief.


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