INTERVIEW


Inspiring a generation


The Derbyshire Education Business Partnership (DEBP) has been on something of an evolutionary journey since its formation in 2011. Business Network Editor Nathan Fearn spoke to Director Kaye Twomlow about the challenges and opportunities facing education business partnerships.


When funding streams for education business partnerships (EBPs) dried up in 2011, the Derby and Derbyshire arm of Connexions - a UK Governmental information, advice, guidance and support service for young people aged 13 to 19 – could all too easily have become defunct. However, in its current guise, the DEBP has emerged from


the uncertainty of six years ago, growing in the process from three members of staff to the 16-strong team it is today. Recognised as a leading establishment in providing and


maintaining links between employers and schools, the DEBP now manages the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Ambassador Hub project not only in Derby and Derbyshire but also Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, East Riding and Hull. It’s a landscape that Kaye has been at the centre of since


The DEBP's work is valued by both schools and learners


‘As the link between schools and business grows ever stronger, the role of EBPs continue to be of significant importance, especially in primary and secondary education’


arriving back in 2003. “I joined what was then Connexions directly from


teaching. Before that, I worked for Boots, project managing product launches,” explains Kaye. “At Boots I was part of a cutting-edge commercial


environment, and had been for 15 years, so I decided I wanted to do something different and give a bit back, so I took the education route.” As the link between schools and business grows ever


stronger, the role of EBPs continue to be of significant importance, especially in primary and secondary education, and it’s a role that it is a great source of pride for Kaye. “In 2003 we were part of the Connexions service, which


worked for Derby and Derbyshire councils. EBPs did what they said on the tin, they were there to broker a relationship between business and schools. “The EBPs have been around since the 1990s and


Derbyshire had one that – although I do say so myself – was seen as one of the best in the UK. The two parties (education and business) talk different languages, they have different stress points and measure success in different ways, so that interface can be very difficult to bridge. That’s why the work undertaken by EBPs is so important.” While the DEBP emerged from Connexions and is now


well established, its ultimate success was far from a foregone conclusion in the early days, as Kaye explains. “We continued as Connexions up to 2011, at which point


the funding was pulled and at that stage Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council decided that they couldn’t fund the team. “John O’Callaghan – who was leading the team at the


time – and I had a discussion about ways we could keep the team together. However, because we weren’t a legal entity, we couldn’t apply for any continuation of any of the contracts that had gone through Connexions, so we couldn’t hold the team together and it was too risky for them to stay with us.”


Far from being deterred, Kaye and John then embarked


on a strategy that would sow the seeds for what is today a hugely influential organisation working with schools and stakeholders in Derbyshire and beyond. “We sat down with Frank Lord, who had been Chair of the


EBP Advisory Board, and told him that we knew that our service was valued by schools. Frank then agreed to become Chairman of the new social enterprise,” explains Kaye. “We developed a few small activities and took them into


schools, which they paid for, and this enabled us to move from John’s dining table to a shared desk at Tapton Innovation Centre. We then started talking to the Chamber and it liked what it saw of our business plan. The Chamber supported our move back into that market and it dovetailed with the development of its own employment and skills strategy.” The newly-formed DEBP became a social enterprise and


its reputation continued to grow, which ultimately led to the opening of doors, and the winning of significant contracts, that are still baring fruit to this day. “At the time, we would talk to the schools, look at their


needs and work with enthusiastic teachers that wanted us to help support either the curriculum, project work or careers talks,” explains Kaye. “By the September of that year, one of the funders that


we had worked with before, STEMNET, couldn’t find anybody to do the work in Derby and Derbyshire. We let them know that we were available and, although we knew we couldn’t satisfy their contractual requirements with three years of accounts, we were willing to take on the project. “As a result, by the end of the month, we began working


on the contract managing STEM Ambassadors, people from science and technology backgrounds in business and academia, who would go into schools to deliver talks, activities, projects and mentoring.” Despite progress being made, and despite the awarding


of the STEM contract, there was plenty of work still to be done to ensure the long-term viability of the DEBP, something Kaye was conscious of at the time. “We knew we were heavily reliant on the STEM contract,


however we were so busy on that contract that we couldn’t see our way to develop the business, so we took on another director, Clare Talati,” says Kaye. “Clare had been working on a major project for


Derbyshire County Council, called Raising Aspirations, which is funded through Public Health. With her help we won the contract to deliver Raising Aspirations, so that’s a part of the business which is growing rapidly.” But what of the actual work of the DEBP and the impact


it has on primary and secondary school students who are, after all, tomorrow’s workforce?


business network July/August 2017 29


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64