Manufacturing firms must forge closer links with education, Leeds business event is told

A LEADING business figure has urged manufacturers to forge closer ties with education in order to reduce the skills gap.
The Collaborative Professionals Network acts as a sounding board for the region's business community.The Collaborative Professionals Network acts as a sounding board for the region's business community.
The Collaborative Professionals Network acts as a sounding board for the region's business community.

Sandy Needham, the chief executive of West and North Yorkshire Chamber, issued a rallying cry to manufacturing firms at a major business event organised by the Collaborative Professionals Network.

Ms Needham told the event at the offices of Womble Bond Dickinson in Leeds: “Businesses do recognise that unless the place they work in operates well their business cannot thrive. Leeds has an exceptionally high number of manufacturing companies. Manufacturers do need to work better with education.”

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Ms Needham said manufacturing still suffered from an outdated image of being “old fashioned, dirty and not well paid”. In fact, there are many skilled and well paid jobs available in the sector, Ms Needham added.

She said companies needed to work together and think outside their own businesses.

Morrisons yesterday revealed it was offering 20 apprenticeships to people over 16 so they can become multi-skilled engineers at the largest fresh food manufacturer in the UK.

Ms Needham said that successful events like Leeds Manufacturing Festival and Bradford Manufacturing Week also provided examples of what can be achieved when firms engage with the education system.

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The event, which was chaired by Greg Wright, The Yorkshire Post’s deputy business editor, also featured presentations from Kate Jeeves, the head of development at Leeds Playhouse and Angela Barnicle, the chief officer for asset management and regeneration at Leeds City Council. It was supported by Leeds Community Foundation.

Kirsty McKinnon, the head of relationships at Leeds Community Foundation, said: “We believe in the power of collaboration and want to work with partners that share our vision. In Leeds we are lucky to have a growing economy and a number of successful businesses who want to give back to the city.”

Ms McKinnon said the foundation’s employability and enterprise programme was a great example of how collaboration could make a difference.

She added: “We worked with a small collective of individual philanthropists and businesses including Leeds Commercial, Squire Patton Boggs and Balfour Beatty who invested over £75,000 to directly support eight community projects that are working to move people closer to employment.

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“One of the funded projects is Canopy Housing, which finds empty homes and works with volunteers to give them practical skills to renovate homes which then house homeless families. Thanks to their grant they are currently working with 26 volunteers.”

“In order to build a strong Leeds economy and future we need to ensure these communities are invested in, their voices are heard and they are not left behind”

Ms Barnicle said that the council was overseeing a “radical transformation of how the city centre looks and feels”, which included plans for a 3.5 hectare park in the heart of the city and the ongoing redevelopment of the South Bank. She said the council’s inclusive growth strategy was focused on people, place and productivity.

Ms Jeeves said the Leeds Playhouse, which employs almost 200 people, is using the arts to have a positive impact on people’s lives.

She added: “Leeds Playhouse is a resource for the city, it was created almost 50 years ago by the people of Leeds, for the people of Leeds, and it is still our ethos today.”