CHAMBER OPINION
CHAMBER OPINION REPRESENTATION
THE POLITICAL POLICIES THAT AFFECT THE REGION
DEVON CHAMBER QUARTERLY ECONOMIC SURVEY
The team collaborating on the Erasmus project on a recent trip to The Netherlands.
College takes part in Erasmus project
Devon Chamber of Commerce is assisting City College Plymouth with an Erasmus Project. This is part of a European programme
designed to spread good practise on particular projects through the European Union. This project examines the interface between the world of education and the world of work. This is highly topical in the UK with the abolition of the Connexions Service and the concerns of many businesses that too few students or school leavers receive encouragement to prepare themselves for key sectors such as construction, manufacturing, hospitality and very little formed career guidance.
‘Devon Chamber has surveyed members on how many businesses have direct links with schools and limited links with colleges’
The European partners of the project are the Netherlands (who lead), the UK, Austria and Finland. To date most of the input from the UK has come from City College Plymouth which has good systems for advising students and guiding them into work. Devon Chamber has surveyed members on how many businesses have direct links with schools and limited links with colleges. This is despite many identifying recruitment of staff as being a key challenge. The final report of the study will be
produced in 2018. Already good practise of links between schools and employers have been observed in the Netherlands and Finland and a greater employer input is expected at the next meeting to be held in Graz, Austria later in the year. If anyone would like more information about
the project please contact Chief Executive, George Cowcher. This may be the last European project which the Chamber will be involved in, as with Brexit firmly on the horizon, the UK will increasingly not be invited to participate.
12 Chamber Profile May/June 2017
Latest QES reveals a need for workers
The Chamber completed its first Quarterly Economic Survey for 2017 at the end of March and has published its first quarterly Economic Report of the year for the County. The survey provides a snapshot of the state of business in the County and the state of the economy more generally. It also provides views about future prospects. Those completing the survey are from all sectors and sizes of company and are located right across the county. The good and optimistic
economic conditions that characterised the end of 2016 have extended into 2017 with the majority of companies reporting strong sales orders and increasing exports. Business confidence for the future is robust with companies anticipating increased profitability and sustained sales. Demand for labour is also strong though fewer companies reported difficulties in recruiting staff, which may indicate that the labour market is weakening from its very strong levels last year. In 2016 there was a constant reduction in unemployment and the overall size of the workforce grew to record levels.
Despite increased confidence in future
profitability, fewer companies are reporting improved cash flow and nearly a quarter of companies report decreasing cashflow, which is a significant deterioration on the previous quarter. The prospect of rising inflation is beginning
to have an impact on more companies – nearly a third mentioned it as an increasing concern. However it is still exceeded by businesses
worried about the challenges of competition and remaining competitive and the effects of changes to business rates. The survey also asked companies to answer
‘The prospect
of rising inflation is beginning to
have an impact on more companies’
questions about their relationships with schools and colleges. With a tight labour market there is severe competition for recruiting able students and some companies have seen the need to invest in their relationship with local schools. This involvement takes a number of forms from showcasing the sector and company to young people to providing work placements to offering apprenticeships. However this is not the majority and 70% of respondents said they had no relationship with schools and colleges. Only 23% said that they took the initiative in seeking to establish a
relationship with schools or
colleges. This is a worryingly low number when many companies are
experiencing recruitment problems and the number of young people entering the labour market will reduce in forthcoming years due to a demographic downturn. There is clearly much to be done to improve connectivity between the world of work and the world of education. This connectivity will become even more important as the reforms to apprenticeship funding are implemented. The next Quarterly Economic Survey will
take place in June and all members are asked to complete it. The Chamber is always interested in hearing
from members about issues that concern them and further local questions that could be asked.
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