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Skills and graduate retention is the key to inward investment success

Last week’s announcement of the £290m Local Growth Fund investment into the North East LEP area was very welcome news. The award from the Government’s flagship regional investment scheme is designed to boost growth and create new jobs.

Of particular value is the new investment in skills and training. This is the single most important feature in attracting new inward investment projects.

The North East historically has done well in attracting footloose inward investment projects. They are attracted by the loyalty and quality of the workforce, availability of space together with the lower cost of living and doing business in this part of the world.

In recent years at Quorum we have seen over 2,000 new jobs created through such projects, with the arrival of Tesco Bank, Balfour Beatty, InsuretheBox and Ebiquity. In all these projects, access to the right skills and a hard working workforce was of crucial importance.

Overall, Newcastle and the wider North East region has a good story to tell, both at GCSE and Graduate level.

Firstly at GCSE level, the North East has had a better pass rate of students reaching 5 A* - C than any other region in the country. This isn’t a one off, the North East has enjoyed the best results every year since 2008. This is a fantastic indication of the quality in the North East workforce.

Apprenticeships are also hugely important. At Quorum TDR Training provide workplace skills training, particularly in the engineering sector. It is a great asset to have these learning facilities, both classrooms and laboratories, on site and accessible to our increasing list of occupiers taking on apprenticeship and training programmes.

The picture at graduate level is also really positive. The North East’s Universities have long had an excellent reputation and been attracting the best young talent from across the country and also increasingly internationally. The main challenge has been to retain these people in the region after graduation, rather than the graduating students heading off to London or elsewhere, without us getting the benefit of the educational investment.

The good news is that graduate retention levels at Newcastle’s Universities are now among the highest in the country, with recent figures showing over 60% of graduates remaining in the region and deciding to build a career in the North East.

This welcome trend is due both to the increasing employment opportunities in the region and also the higher quality of life on offer. Higher costs of housing, transport, entertainment and many day to day costs mean that a slightly lower salary here actually buys you more than a higher salary in London. That is on top of the ‘Kielder to Coast’ quality of life and environment that the city region enjoys.

This is a great message to inward investors showing that companies can save on employment costs but still have motivated staff enjoying a higher quality of life.

Fergus Trim is Director of Quorum Business Park in Newcastle.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Quorum Business Park .