Partner Article

Firms training more in the recession

Training is on the increase despite, or perhaps because of, businesses cutting back in the credit crunch, a North East development specialist says.

Malcolm Armstrong, managing director of Access, based in Gateshead, said his company was working with 164 clients - more than at any time in its 25-year history.

He said apprenticeships and Train to Gain courses were particularly popular, with numbers up 24% over the past 12 months. He said the trend looked likely to continue into the new financial year.

He said: “North East businesses appear to be tackling the economic downturn differently to those in the past by training their way out of recession.

“The fact that the Government has relaxed some of the funding restrictions means that companies can now access training programmes that are often fully funded, keeping costs low, but impact high.

“I think managers want to be in the best possible position to take advantage of the upturn when it comes, and that means having people performing to their full potential.

“The feedback I am getting is that people see it as a way of securing their business and ensuring that their teams and individual employees are performing to the highest standards.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .