Six-figure training fund gives Yorkshire businesses a skills boost

Over £870,000 has been invested in skills and consultancy support for businesses in the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding regions over the last three years.

The Specialist Skills Support Programme (SSSP), managed by Calderdale College in partnership with University of York and NYBEP Ltd, launched in 2020 to offer Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) fully and part funded training and consultancy support to upskill their current workforce.

From succession planning for an ageing workforce, to enhancing employee capacity through skills training, SSSP has worked with local training providers to help businesses thrive through the changing markets.

During the lifetime of the project, funded by the European Social Fund, the College supported over 100 SMEs and 300 individuals with a wide range of skills and consultancy needs.

York-based company, Country Products, received support from Specialist Skills Support Programme through the Specialist Support for an Ageing Workforce training. Managing director, John Taylor, said: “Accessing this support has given our company a real focus for planning our succession. It is no doubt the catalyst that we needed.”

Alongside the programme, Calderdale College manages a number of skills development projects in the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding region for businesses still looking to upskill their workforce.

The College’s longest-running programme, Skills Support for the Workforce, has provided a staggering £2.8m worth of free skills training to over 450 SMEs and 1,350 individuals since 2018. The Business Scale Up Programme, a leadership and management project that helps to match businesses with the best consultants and trainers, pays 40 per cent towards the cost to support employers.

Most recently, the College launched The Apprenticeship Hub, which offers free skills support and impartial apprenticeship advice and guidance to businesses wanting to take on an apprentice or upskill an existing employee through an apprenticeship.

Helen Howland, head of North East Team and Business Development at Calderdale College, said: “The College is delighted to be supporting businesses and residents to upskill and meet the skills and employment needs of the York, North Yorkshire and the East Riding area.

“The current economic climate provides challenges for us all, however a new and broader range of skills can serve to strengthen our response to these challenges, place our businesses in a more agile position, and build our overall confidence for a greener, fairer, stronger society.”

The Business Scale Up Programme, Skills Support for the Workforce and The Apprenticeship Hub are part-funded by the European Social Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily