60 MANUFACTURING
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Blackburn College has made significant investment in electric vehicle and hydrogen technology and Nicola adds: “We are currently investing in our engineering provision and curriculum.”
The college has also invested £1.2m in a cyber and digital space and is looking at its curriculum and the introduction of data science and sustainability to meet the growing needs of industry.
Looking at those needs in Lancashire, Melissa Conlon adds: “In terms of government policy there is a need to actually look at skills and the development of skills on a spatial basis.
“If you look at us as a manufacturing county, we need to be able to align our curriculum on a spatial basis to develop our manufacturers and to bring more here.”
The issue of upskilling is a point taken up by John Keen, managing director of Blackpool headquartered training and consultancy business RKMS.
He sees it as a way of empowering the workforce and tapping into their knowledge in order to improve the performance of businesses. He says: “Upskilling saves money and it is a brilliant way to cross fertilise.”
John would also like to see more collaboration between employers, training providers and local authorities when it comes to skills, adding: “The whole thing could improve massively.”
Paul Nicholls is relationship manager at Barclays and looks after a portfolio of Lancashire manufacturing businesses.
He believes there is a growing awareness among young people about the opportunities available in the sector, something he has seen in his own children as they look to forge their career paths.
Paul says: “I do feel there has been a mind shift regarding what you should do once you leave education. Some of the work that has been done in this area is really paying off.”
Andy Schofield, who chairs the North West Aerospace Alliance (NWAA), is keen for the supply chain to explore the possibility of creating a ‘talent pool’ which is an idea that has been talked about for some time.
He points out that for every 1,000 jobs advertised by BAE Systems there might be 5,000 people applying and poses the question: “What happens to the 4,000, where do they go?”
And he adds: “Just because they didn’t quite make the cut doesn’t mean to say they can’t do a job, so let’s understand that and let’s think about it as an opportunity.”
He’s also keen to see the idea of a ‘joint apprenticeship centre’, similar to BAE Systems’ Academy for Skills & Knowledge (ASK) at Samlesbury, which would be funded by the supply chain and be an asset for the region.
Andy says: “These are two areas that we need to do something about, rather than just keep saying there is an opportunity.”
Charlie Rooke, business development manager at Senior Aerospace Weston, based in Barnoldswick, says that it has looked to solve its skills challenge by creating its own training academy, “Taking people with no engineering or manufacturing background and generating our own resource”.
He adds: “That is something we’d like to explore with other Lancashire companies, the opportunity to pool together and generate a resource everyone can draw down from.”
The idea of a talent pool appeals to Nicola Clayton. She says: “It is something the colleges should support and put their energies behind.”
She adds: “We need to continue the conversation with employers about how we can continue to build resilience and adaptability in the young people we are educating.
“To sustain the existing workforce and to grow Lancashire as a manufacturing base we need to all pull together to ensure we have got that skills pipeline.”
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