Humber firms urged to increase staff training spending

A campaign will be launched in the Humber this Friday (April 12th) to encourage local companies to shell out more money on training employees.

The Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) - which was set up by British businessman Lord Haskins, former member of the Labour Party - is hoping more firms will back its Humber Skills Pledge after recent research has shown one-fifth of the UK's economic growth is due to improvements in training and skills.

According to Lord Haskins, there are some excellent examples of local firms that have invested in developing their workers, but the nation as a whole is not good enough at it.

He said the LEP wants to use the Humber Skills Pledge to raise awareness of what improving skills can do for a company, adding: "A few relatively small actions, if taken up by enough businesses, can have a very positive impact on their own companies as well as the prospects of people in their local communities."
The pledge is seeking to get more of the 47,800 unemployed people aged between 16 and 64 in the region into work placements and jobs, at the same time as urging organisations to raise their productivity through investment in skills.

It consists of six actions, which include mentoring a budding entrepreneur, employing a local graduate, offering a work placement, increasing workforce skills, taking on an apprentice and supporting the development of employability.

At Friday's launch event, Stuart Griffiths from Jobcentre Plus will be giving a talk about how easy it is for businesses to find the right graduate or apprentice for their role.

He said the LEP campaign is "absolutely vital" and its aim is to show firms there are lots of ready, willing and able organisations eager to help them find a new recruit that will bring them added value to their company.

This comes after a survey published by ICM Research has revealed bosses in England are finding apprentices to be more employable than some people with other qualifications.