Colleges complete business-benefitting merger

Rotherham College of Arts and Technology and North Notts College completed a merger on 1st February 2016 to create a new organisation called the RNN Group (Rotherham and North Notts Group), which will have a turnover in excess of £45m in 2015/16.

The new RNN Group will retain its existing campuses at Rotherham Town Centre (Eastwood Lane and Rawmarsh Road), Dinnington (Doe Quarry Lane) and Worksop (Carlton Road).

A major aim for the merger is to create an organisation with the scale to increase its responsiveness and offer to employers in Rotherham, Bassetlaw and more widely across the Sheffield City Region (SCR) and the D2N2 (Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire) Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

This need has been heightened by the upcoming apprenticeship levy on employers, and the recognised need to fill skills gaps and increase higher level skills training.

John Connolly, RNN Group chief executive, said: “Business success and economic growth are vital to our region. RNN Group will play a key role supporting employers through providing apprenticeships, higher-level skills and training solutions, enabling local people and our regional workforce to develop into the roles organisations need to succeed.”

Already one of the largest providers of apprenticeships in the SCR, one of the first steps the organisation has taken is to pool the employer-facing sales and liaison staff from both colleges into a central team operating under the banner of ‘RNN Training’.

Phil Sayles, RNN deputy principal, added: “RNN Training has been created as a clear point of contact for employers who need bespoke or accredited training in their business, or who want to create apprenticeships. We want to be the first name employers in our area think of for these services.

“A major benefit we can offer is that we have up to 5,000 students in our two colleges, Rotherham and North Notts. Most of these students want to move into careers and will have already benefited from our excellent practical training in our realistic work environments, and exposure to the disciplines and expectations of work, by the time we carefully match them with employers’ vacancies.”

The RNN Group is also investing in a new higher education and skills centre on Doncaster Gate in Rotherham, a development which will create a HE campus in the last South Yorkshire town or city without one, a move supported by over 200 businesses, the local council and other bodies, with part-funding from the SCR LEP applied for.

The RNN Group also comprises a number of separate limited companies; including

National Fluid Power Centre (NFPC) Ltd, Create Skills Ltd, Aston Recruitment and Training Ltd and Charnwood Training Ltd.

Chief Executive, John Connolly, concluded: “By 2024, it is estimated that up to 40% of the existing workforce in our area might have moved on or retired, and a big proportion of jobs growth until that date will also require higher level skills. RNN Group will move to provide clear progression pathways for adults currently in their early 20s, as well as the 16-18s, from all parts of society, to keep improving their skills and move into jobs that will be productive for them and the economy.

“Our merged organisation will give us greater resilience, greater scope to invest and provide the training and courses employers and individuals need, taught by our experts in industry-level facilities in our colleges or on employers premises. We hope we can have greater influence for the benefit of our local areas and businesses. A key factor in determining whether this is so will be more businesses choosing to work with us, because we deliver exactly the services they need to a very high standard.”

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