FUTURISTIC TRAINING KEY TO DEVELOPING NEXT GENERATION SKILLS

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Today, tomorrow’s leaders are learning skills of the future at Education Partnership North East (EPNE), a dynamic partnership between Sunderland College, Hartlepool Sixth Form College and Northumberland College.

With more than £90 million invested across the group’s facilities in the last six years, and more to come, CONTACT speaks to chief executive Ellen Thinnesen about how the North East’s largest regional group is working to stay one step ahead of industry to ensure students leave with the skills and experience to drive the future economy.

Walk around any of Education Partnership North East’s (EPNE) six campuses, and you will see transformational development projects underway.

Across all its sites – spanning Northumberland in the north of the region, to Hartlepool in the south – there
have been significant programmes of investment.

Some have been cosmetic – creating the most aspirational learning environment possible – but for the
most part, the changes taking place across the college’s estate have been driven by a desire to deliver the most advanced training available, that will drive future-focused skills to help level up the region.

“When visitors see our resources, they often comment on how business-like our campuses are – how the facilities feel like a real work environment,” says chief executive Ellen Thinnesen, who has been at the helm of the college group since 2016.

“And that’s critical. We want students to get the most authentic training possible – whether they’re studying for
a technical qualification or an academic route.

“Further education should prepare them for their next career steps.

“We can only do that if we not only prepare them for the industry of today, but for the changes that are coming down the line.

“And that means tight relationships with employers, so we are absolutely on top of what’s changing – and indeed, moving in lockstep with emerging trends that are disrupting industry, so we adapt our training in a really agile way.

“We are deeply focused on the labour market – we have to understand how it is going to change in the North East and what the requirements of businesses will be, so we can ensure the talent pipeline we create is absolutely aligned.”

Among the areas of focus at EPNE is delivering digitally-enhanced learning – using technology to take training to the next level and keep pace with the speed at which it is permeating every single sector.

“This is something we’re really passionate about,” says Ellen.

“There can be little doubt that IT, and the enhanced capability it provides, is cutting through almost every industry, from healthcare to communications, and engineering to architecture.

“And that means that every young person who leaves school, college or university has to be a digital citizen ready to utilise tech in whatever sector they move in to; equally our adult students need to keep pace with digital developments in the workplace too.

“This is why we embed digital into our training so students leave us digitally equipped and can apply these skills within their chosen industry.

“And we also use tech to enhance the quality of our training.

“At Sunderland College, we’ll soon be opening a new immersive space – part of a £3 million capital programme – that will simulate a range of digital environments to enable our T Level students to train in a space that, for instance, might feel like a factory or a hospital.

“We want it to feel authentic, and to bridge the gap between education and industry.”

Perhaps the most telling signs of the group being focused on the future are recent investments in spaces that will support the development of emerging eco-systems within the North East.


The college is set to play a key role in driving the skills base needed to support Nissan EV36Zero, a £1 billion electric vehicle eco-system that will create and secure thousands of jobs across the region.

EPNE has secured £1.3 million to deliver improved facilities at Sunderland College’s City Campus, that will allow the group to deliver training around green technology, ensuring the skills pipeline is strong.

Ellen says: “We are really passionate about the role education can play in the economic development of this region, and we’ve recently been working with Ford Next Generation Learning (NGL), Edge Foundation and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership to embed new approaches to teaching that have transformed outcomes in Nashville, in the US, and that we know can do the same for us in the North East.


“The approach relies on those close working relationships with local employers and community partners and experiential learning, and that’s what we will be developing to support the region’s EV hub and ensure that Envision AESC – the company that is leading the development of a £450 million gigafactory to drive EV36Zero – has the skills base it needs to drive the growth of automotive in the future.”

And, just as EPNE will be at the cutting-edge of advanced manufacturing of cars, the group is also set to blaze a trail when it comes to skills for modern methods of construction.

Sunderland City Council, EPNE and the Ministry of Building Innovation and Education have secured funding from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund that will see the development of a Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy (HICSA), a groundbreaking facility that will educate, train and upskill local people to create innovative factory-built new homes, the first of which will be assembled at Riverside Sunderland.


Ellen adds: “HICSA is really innovative.

“Just like Nissan EV36Zero, this is about powering the green revolution, that we know will create sustainable opportunities for our young people, as well as advancing the agenda of the region – and indeed the country – when it comes to building homes using modern methods of construction that are faster to construct and deliver exemplary quality and energy efficiency standards.

“This is about future-proofing our young people and supporting existing employees – ensuring they have the skills
that will power the economy of tomorrow and we’re thrilled to be able to advance this important agenda and play a part in building a green future for our region.

“Today, we’re thinking about tomorrow, trying to stay one step ahead and absolutely focused on the industries that will prosper – and the skills they will need – in the future.


“Our role is to ensure that it is our students who are able to step forward and be the leaders of tomorrow, thanks to the skills they’re developing right now at EPNE.”

Autumn Budget 2021 briefing

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The Chancellor delivered his Budget and Spending Review today, which included some announcements for the North East as part of spending on transport in city regions, from the Levelling Up Fund, the Community Ownership Fund, and an investment from the UK Infrastructure Bank in Teesside. 

The Treasury has summarised these announcements in a set of regional fact sheets here. 

Our initial comment from our policy director Jonathan Walker is here: “The Budget had some welcome announcements for North East businesses but our wait for a long-term levelling up strategy goes on.” 

But how did Rishi Sunak’s announcements compare to the priorities we outlined for the region in our submission to him last month? 

We said that this Budget and Spending Review must… 

  • provide a clear, bold definition of levelling up 
  • fund departments and public bodies in a way that makes them responsible and accountable for levelling up  
  • advance the cause of decentralisation and devolution 

There were a number of announcements in the Budget either made from the Levelling Up Fund or under the wider auspices of ‘levelling up’. These include regeneration projects in Newcastle, Sunderland and Teesside. However, the long-awaited White Paper on levelling up is yet to be published, while other related strategies such as the Integrated Rail Plan have also been much delayed. 

The projects announced today are all extremely welcome and will make a difference to their local communities. However, the fact that they are being awarded from a central funding pot after a national competition speaks to the centralised nature of the country. Without a greater commitment to long-term devolved funding settlements we are unlikely to see much progress in levelling up. 

  • provide support for exporters 

There was a £67.6 million budget increase for the Department for International Trade (DIT) over the Parliament to maintain capacity to secure trade agreements and support exporters.  

An announcement of £180 million to build a UK ‘Single Trade Window’ which aims to reduce the cost of trade by streamlining trader interactions with border agencies.  

Funding for EU-focused Export Support Service from DIT as part of Export Strategy to be published shortly. 

£838 million over three years to 2024-25 to complete delivery of Customs Declaration Service (CDS).  

£107 million next year for the Trader Support Service (TSS) which helps traders move goods to Northern Ireland.  

  • establish the UK Shared Prosperity Fund based on regional economic need 

The first announcement was made from the Shared Prosperity Fund, which will distribute £2.6bn over the next three years, including through the £560m ‘Multiply’ scheme which is aimed at adult numeracy. The Treasury suggests regions such as the North East, where adult numeracy levels are lower, will benefit most from this. 

The schemes so far are national in focus, and don’t reflect the structure of EU funds, which were distributed direct to regions based on need. 

  • deliver on aspirations for broadband investment 

The Government in the Budget confirmed its target to invest £5 billion in to support the rollout of gigabit capable broadband in across the whole of the UK.  

The Government will also provide £180 million over the next three years as part of its £500 million investment in the Shared Rural Network, to deliver 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK 

There weren’t any particularly new announcements around broadband but we welcome the Government committing to targets to improve digital connectivity. We now need to see this investment take place to improve connectivity for the region.  

  • properly fund rail investment across the North, including the eastern leg of HS2 

There has been welcome investment confirmed in the Budget for improving local rail links in Teesside including redevelopment schemes for Darlington and Middlesbrough stations. We are still waiting for the Government’s integrated rail plan to set out plans for investment around HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail.  

  • ensure the long-term success of regional airports 

We welcome the Government extending the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) for a further six months to help airports as they recover from Covid travel restrictions. 

The Budget also announced a 50% cut in domestic APD and a new ultra-long-haul distance band.  

  • incentivise investment in low-carbon housing and retrofitting 

The Government set out plans to invest £450 million in growing the heat pump market and reduce costs by 25-30% by 2025 to allow the technology to be rolled out across the UK.  

The Government is also providing business rates exemptions and relief in England to support the decarbonisation of non-domestic buildings.  

  • support arts and culture as a means of regenerating communities 

The arts and culture sector will benefit from 50% business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure sector businesses, as well as specific Covid recover funding of £52m next year. There is also tax relief for museums, galleries, theatres, orchestras and film and TV projects. 

  • properly fund and support our further and higher education sectors 

Adult skills 

Skills funding will increase by £3.8 billion compared to 2019/20. This funding will quadruple places at skills bootcamps, expand the Level 3 qualifications on offer to adults and fund the newly announced Multiply scheme, which will equip adults with basic numeracy skills. The £560 million investment in the Multiply scheme will benefit the North East disproportionately due to the region’s lower-than-average numeracy levels.  

Schools and colleges 

The Budget outlined a £1.6 billion increase to 16-19 education funding over three years which will help maintain funding rates and expand the rollout of T Levels. Rishi Sunak also outlined a £4.7 billion boost for schools budgets by 2024-2025, amounting to a cash increase per-child of £1500. Also announced was £2.6 billion of funding to be spent on creating new school places for children with special needs and disabilities. Whilst these investments are a step in the right direction, it is unlikely they will counter the record cuts which schools and colleges have faced since 2010.  

The Chancellor also announced additional funding for the schools recovery fund of £1.8 billion, aimed at supporting schools. The total investment of £ 5 billion is still much lower than the £15 billion Sir Kevan Collins, the Government’s former catch up advisor, argued was necessary to support young people to catch up on lost learning.  

Universities 

The Government’s increase in public investment in Research and Development (R&D) to £20 billion will provide a funding increase for the UK’s universities and research institutions of £1.1 billion per year more by 2024-25 compared to 2021-22.  

  • increase funding flexibility to encourage employer investment in training 

There were no significant announcements which would enable this additional flexibility. We considered this an important change to make to enable businesses to engage with a broader range of spending under Apprenticeship Levy rules and adjust how the scheme worked to fit the needs of modern employers. 

  • recognise the damaging economic impact of welfare cuts in our region 

The Budget announced a reduction in the taper rate that applies in Universal Credit from 63% to 55% by 1 December 2021. This is welcome as it will help people working on Universal Credit and keep more money within the region, however those not in work will not feel the benefit.  

  • put in place the necessary business support measures to reduce the impact of future Covid restrictions, including a limited reintroduction of the Job Retention Scheme 

The Government announced business rates relief of 50% for retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in 2022-23. Eligible properties will receive 50% relief, up to a £110,000 per business cap.  

This is positive for businesses in these sectors, however other sectors won’t benefit.  

There was no mention of wider Covid business support packages, or how these might be reintroduced should restrictions return. 

Useful Link

The full Budget document are available here.

Photo by Marcin Nowak on Unsplash

Budget 2021 – what we know so far

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Ahead of the Budget on Wednesday we’ve seen some suggestions in the press on what to expect. 

We made some clear asks, summarised below. 

Based on this weekend’s speculation, we seem no clearer on a definition of levelling up, on the future of the Shared Prosperity Fund and how it will replace EU funding, or on how business support packages could be reintroduced through the winter if Covid cases continue to rise. 

However, there have been some clear proposals on a number of the other points we raised in a letter to the Chancellor last month. 

One of the main expected changes will be an increase to the national living wage from £8.91 to £9.50 from the 1st of April next year. The apprentice rate and the national minimum wages for younger workers under 23 are also expected to be see and increase on Wednesday. 

We’re also expected to see a focus on investment in skills with a £1.6 billion increase in 16-19 education funding, an expansion of T-levels, and a £170 million increase to the apprenticeship budget as well as a more funding for skills bootcamps and to expand the level 3 adult offer. 

In terms of transport there’s an expectation that on Wednesday there will be an announcement of funding for train, bus and cycle projects in particular we’re expecting funding to be allocated to the Tees Valley for the upgrades for Darlington and Middlesbrough stations and improved rail connections. 

But until we see the detail, we won’t know how much of the commitment for the Tees Valley has been announced previously. 

There’s also speculation that the Eastern Leg of HS2 – the section that would travel from Birmingham through Yorkshire and on the North East – could be scaled back. This would be disappointing with existing capacity on the East Coast Mainline is so limited, and when connectivity from our region to other parts of the North and the Midlands remains poor. 

We’re still waiting to see about other major transport announcements like Northern Powerhouse Rail. 

We’ve also seen some reports of £500 million in funding allocated to create ‘family hubs’ which will give support and advice, the £500 million will also include funding allocated to mental health support services. 

Elsewhere, £1.8bn is expected to be allocated for building 160,000 new homes on brownfield sites across the country, along with money for digitising the planning system. It’s uncertain at this stage how this money will be allocated across the country. 

There’s also funding expected to promote electric vehicle production in the North East and the midlands, and some funding for regional museums. 

We’ll wait to see the full details announced on Wednesday but the focus on skills is positive along with the funding for Darlington and Middlesbrough stations. 

The Chamber team will be analysing the Budget tomorrow lunchtime – and we’ll be particularly looking for progress on levelling up, decentralisation, export support, regeneration and Covid support. All of which were missing from this weekend’s leaks. 

In the meantime, the Chamber’s full Budget submission is available here: https://www.neechamber.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Chamber-Budget-Letter-to-Chancellor-Sep-21.pdf 

Photo by Marcin Nowak on Unsplash

Tackling the widening autism employability gap

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Daisy Chain, a Stockton-based charity addressing the needs of autistic children, adults and their families, is holding an employability summit on 16th Nov to bring together businesses and other partners to tackle a widening employability gap.

Despite successive attempts to create a level playing field for individuals with autism when accessing employment, recent reports show that the employability gap is widening further.

In the years since a National Autistic Society campaign in 2016, urging the government to act, autistic people in employment has dropped by 9% and Office for National Statistics reported that employment rates for autistic people are lower than for any other disability. Shockingly, almost 80% of autistic adults are unemployed.

Hayley Matthews, Head of Adult Services at Daisy Chain says, “The statistics present less of an employment gap for autistic people and more of an employment chasm. Employing neurodiverse individuals can bring bottom-line benefits for a business and there are so many businesses who are missing out.

“Our Autism Employability Summit will support businesses and organisations to enhance their access to autism talent by breaking down misconceptions around autism, shining a light the huge benefits of embracing a diverse workforce and empowering employers with the knowledge to create a culture of inclusion in their recruitment and workplace practices.”

North East-based autism charity, Daisy Chain has launched its Employability Summit, an event that takes place on Tuesday 16th November 2021.

The event is aimed at HR professionals, senior managers, and those with the ability to create change in relation to inclusion and diversity. Businesses are invited to come to support the organisation’s campaign to reduce the staggering employment gap that exists for autistic people.

Businesses place a high value on employees who are reliable and conscientious, who have great attention to detail, who have high levels of concentration and who have good technical skills, detailed factual knowledge and an excellent memory. Autistic candidates often possess greater than average skills in some, if not all, of these areas, as well as bringing their own unique skills, strengths, and perspectives to the table. In fact, a study by JPMorgan Chase found that autistic people are 90 to 140% more productive than ‘neurotypical’ employees and make fewer errors.

The event boasts an array of fantastic local and international speakers, such as a Tony Waters from Cummins, Kelly Grainger, co-founder of Perfectly Autistic who formerly worked for PepsiCo and Lee Corless who developed one of the world’s leading autism at work programmes whilst working for JPMorgan Chase.

This inspiring event has been made possible thanks to support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

If you’d like to break your business glass ceiling and find out more about recruiting autism talent, find out more information about Daisy Chain’s event and book your free place: http://employabilitysummit.eventbrite.co.uk

Find out more about Daisy Chain: www.daisychainproject.co.uk

Colleagues as Consumers – taking a marketing mindset to create an impactful employee experience

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By Elouise Leonard-Cross, Northumbrian Water – to hear more from Elouise, sign up for the People Power Conference on 16th November.

“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” Sir Richard Branson

Sir Richard Branson is famous for his belief in the importance of the employee, believing if an employee is given the tools they need, looked after and treated well, that they will be happy and as a result the customer will have a positive experience. A strong belief that putting staff first, customer second and shareholders third, effectively yields positive outcomes for shareholders and a better customer experience.

All too often businesses invest in marketing but use that talent and resource pointed at an external market – creating products, solutions and messaging aimed at the customer. The result is that employees complain they are the last to know, see things on external digital channels or even hear them from customers themselves.

So how can businesses adopt their communications approach so that they treat colleagues as consumers? The starting point is to simply understand the customer proposition. At Northumbrian Water we have mirrored roles in both People and Customer – each having a team focused on Strategy and Experience. This means that the conversations start early and the most basic level we look to use the same underpinning model. This shared start point means we are looking through a similar lens and measuring complimentary metrics.

We are simultaneously reducing the number of channels and improving the channels we retain for colleagues to communicate, share and feed-back. Many businesses invest in setting up channels, forums and networks but then fail to sustain these with ideas that are sent to an inbox or posted in a forum by a colleague being missed and then creating disengagement and distrust. By having fewer channels but ensuring these are highly accessible, monitored and responded to helps colleagues feel like a powerful voice within the business.

Small actions like sharing Press Releases internally before they are promoted externally makes a real difference in colleagues feeling valued and informed. In addition we are using more agile approaches to learning, to understand the wants and preferences of our internal consumers. This includes building new communications and resource platforms with high quality analytics, so we can see immediately what is working and what isn’t. The key here is that the interest in this data remains, it’s considered weekly (if not daily) to understand what is happening and take real time action. We’ve seen real success with this as we redesigned our Health and Wellness approach using consumer centred thinking. We undertook considerable analysis of the situation and needs of our customers, using persona’s to support our thinking. The design was intentionally different too, crafted to reflect the needs of colleagues during the pandemic. This resulted in a much more informal and engaging product design and the collaborative development of a site that has been accessed by over 90% of colleagues within the first 6 months.

Join us at People Power on 16th November to hear more about how collaboration and strong partnerships between the Corporate Communications and HR function is enabling people projects to achieve maximum benefit and impact and our award winning Living Well project.

Elouise Leonard-Cross

Head of People Strategy and Experience, Northumbrian Water Group

Elouise is one of a raft of high profile speakers at the upcoming People Power Conference, taking place on Tuesday 16th November at the NewcastleGateshead Hilton. To find out more and book your place, visit their website.

Photo by Clayton Cardinalli on Unsplash

The benefits of upskilling your workforce

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As businesses navigate through the pandemic and reports suggest that the labour market is beginning to stabilise, firms will no doubt be assessing their workforce, strategy and plans for the future. This could be seen as a really good time to think about upskilling existing staff. But what is upskilling and how can it benefit your business?

Invest in your staff

Upskilling is a way to provide an employee with more advanced skills through additional education and training. It can also be seen as a much smaller investment than hiring and training a new member of staff. According to a Learning for Life report[1] by the CBI it will cost four times as much to retrain a worker than to upskill them. Additionally, an estimated 80% of the required upskilling investments will generate positive returns for the business that makes the investment.

Reasons to upskill your workforce

If you decide to upskill an employee, it can be a win-win situation for you both. McKinsey[2] found that 94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development. With that in mind, some advantages to upskilling would be that it can boost morale and so improve staff retention. It could help an employee to master their current role, embrace the love of learning and even motivate top talent.

Plugging the skills gaps in the North East

With nine out of ten UK employers struggling to recruit the skills they need; upskilling could be a solution. Think about your current skills shortages. Digital is likely to be on your list. A Digital Exclusion report[3] by the North East LEP found that many people in work lack the digital skills required for their job as it has evolved, and others are excluded from jobs altogether due to lack of digital skills.

Interestingly, the top three IT skills in demand[4], according to online job postings in the North East, are Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Word. With some strategic workforce planning and looking at the current capabilities of your employees, there could be a real purpose to upskilling.

Use the end of furlough and the apprenticeship levy to your advantage

As the furlough deadline has now passed, many affected employees might have used their time wisely to upskill. Alternatively, some of your employees that have been on furlough could now be in a great position to be upskilled. Recent data from Make it Click[5] found that 57% of furloughed workers wanted to improve their digital and IT skills. It is also worth remembering that the apprenticeship levy can be used to upskill and train your existing staff.

How do you upskill your business?

Upskilling can be a vital part of keeping your team productive, but it can also be very time consuming, confusing and overwhelming. There is plenty of support available to help you.

The North East Ambition programme

North East Ambition is funded by the European Social Fund and delivered by Education Development Trust in partnership with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership. It is a programme of free support for SMEs based in the North East, designed to ensure local businesses are taking advantage of the opportunities available to them to develop and upskill their workforce.

The programme can help you, free of charge, to devise a Training Needs Analysis and identify your business’s skills gaps, understand the needs of your business and access the right training and funding.

The National Careers Service

The National Careers Service can provide guidance on learning, training and work and is available to people who live in England. Consider offering a free appointment with a qualified careers adviser to your employees to discuss their training needs and plans to upskill and prepare for the future.

Suzanne Lees-Jones

Labour Market Information and Resources Coordinator – North East Ambition

https://www.educationdevelopmenttrust.com/north-east-ambition

[1]learning-for-life-report.pdf (cbi.org.uk)

[2]https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-economic-case-for-reskilling-in-the-uk-how-employers-can-thrive-by-boosting-workers-skills

[3]https://evidencehub.northeastlep.co.uk/storage/app/media/Digital%20Exclusion%20in%20the%20North%20East%20LEP%20Area/Digital%20Exclusion%20in%20the%20North%20East%20LEP%20Area_Executive%20Summary_FINAL.pdf

[4] Labour Insight, Burning Glass Technologies – online advertised vacancies in the last 6 months to August 2021

[5] Make it Click 2020

Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash

Chamber and Mediaworks join forces to boost companies’ digital skills

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North East England Chamber of Commerce has teamed up with Mediaworks, one of the region’s largest marketing agencies, to support North East business through their digital transformation.

Mediaworks will deliver a series of four events hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, that will outline how businesses can capitalise on the power of data, technology and creativity, to set out a market strategy to fuel the growth of North East business through customer focused technologies.

Chamber Partner member, Mediaworks, will be sharing its extensive expertise from its work with their global clients such as Puma, GAP and Cath Kidston in addition to more local businesses that includes work with Home Group, Newcastle University and Northumbria Water.

The first of these events will underline how business can capitalise on better understanding the data accessible through their existing digital platforms. The session will show how understanding customer data and applying smart persona techniques is key to developing a successful digital roadmap.

The second workshop will outline why a powerful digital brand is key to supercharging sales growth online. It’s increasingly critical for all businesses to stand out from their competition and protect their business from future disruption.

The third session will focus on retaining and growing customers by utilising digital platforms to create immersive online experiences that match the rise in customer expectation.

In the final session, Mediaworks will set out how the right combination of search engine optimisation, paid online advertising, relevant content production, and digital PR and online reputation, accelerates new customers wins and increases market share.

Brett Jacobson is CEO and founder of Mediaworks and will host the Chamber events. His company now has more than 150 digital communications specialists and in the last 18 months has expanded to launch successful operations in Leeds, Edinburgh and Dublin.

Brett says: “This is a region we proudly call home, so we’re honoured to be in the position to step up, alongside our friends at the Chamber, to meet the collective responsibility to improve the understanding of the transformational business opportunities that exist online.

“The need for a successful digital footprint has accelerated at a frightening pace in the last 18 months. We’re really looking forward to the forthcoming series of events that’ll equip our business leaders with the tools to own their digital futures.”

Jonathan Walker, Chamber policy director said: “We are delighted that Mediaworks will be sharing in-depth expertise on how to use digital technology to market a business effectively. These webinars will be invaluable to learn how to use data and on-line sales techniques to really increase business growth. The speed of Mediaworks’ own growth over recent years is testament to how successful these strategies are in the marketplace.

“It is so important the North East not only encourages and supports the growth of its tech sector as with success stories like Tombola and Sage, but also makes sure traditional businesses embark on their own digital transformation journey. We need companies here to be able to exploit the opportunities digital technology can bring or risk falling behind.”

These events are part of the Chamber’s digital campaign and commitment to work with partners and experts to digitise the region’s businesses.

Why is hospitality facing staff shortages?

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After what has been a hugely difficult eighteen months, things seem to be looking up for the hospitality industry. Lockdown is continuing to ease; pubs are rammed for the Euros and there’s no end to the demand for restaurant and bar bookings. However, the easing of Covid-19 restrictions has created new challenges for the hospitality industry.

Despite unbridled demand offering the sector a much-needed boost, skills and staff shortages in the hospitality industry threaten to dampen the sector’s recovery. Research by Hospitality UK has found that the sector has a vacancy rate of 9% which implies a shortage of 188,000 hospitality staff across the UK. These shortages are mainly concentrated in waiting, bar, and chef roles, though they also are a problem within housekeeping and management roles.

The exact cause of the shortages is unknown, though they are likely a result of the double whammy impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. Before the pandemic, 30% of hospitality workers in the UK came from Europe and up to 50% of chefs are thought to have been born outside the UK. However, the pandemic, the Brexit referendum, and the implementation of the new immigration system has led to an exodus of European migrants. It is estimated that 2.3 million non-UK workers have left the UK since late 2019. However, levels of EU to UK migration have been low since the Brexit vote in 2016, meaning a significant pool of talent that businesses in the hospitality sector traditionally drew upon has been in long-term decline for half a decade.

The new points-based immigration system, which was implemented in January this year, has placed significantly more stringent restrictions on migrants entering the UK and closed the borders to so-called low skilled migrants. With many roles in the hospitality industry deemed below the skill level required for entry and the new system placing an increased financial and administrative burden on both businesses and migrants, it is no wonder that research conducted by the jobs website Indeed has found that searches from EU-based jobseekers for roles in the hospitality sector were down by 41% from levels in 2019.

Undoubtedly the pandemic has also had an impact on the ability of hospitality businesses to retain existing staff. According to research conducted by CGA and CPL Learning, confidence in the sector and its ability to offer stable and secure employment has been shaken with 42% of staff surveyed reporting they are concerned about their long-term job security. With the sector closed for a significant proportion of the past eighteen months, many staff have felt obliged to find alternative employment to protect incomes and job security. Some employers have also reported that the pandemic, and the increased time staff had to spend with friends and family, prompted some to look for alternative employment which offers more sociable working hours.

There are concerns that the sectoral instability caused by the pandemic has also reduced the number of young people or career switchers wanting to establish careers in the hospitality industry. Research shows that the pandemic has triggered a shift in perceptions about working in the sector. Although 59% of people still believe the sector offers good career prospects, this figure has fallen by a significant 15% since June 2020. Similarly, there has been a fall in the number of people who would recommend the sector to establish careers in to family and friends.

So how can people be encouraged to stay establish careers in the hospitality sector?

In the short term, with staff in short supply there will be increasing competition between businesses for talent. Undoubtedly many businesses will be reassessing their own remuneration packages and what benefits they offer staff in order to remain competitive. However, businesses have also highlighted that they are working hard to bolster staff wellbeing as we emerge from the pandemic in an effort to both support and retain employees. To tackle staff shortages and ease the shift back to work from furlough, Hall Garth Hotel in Darlington is offering enhanced employment packages, renewed training and supported transitions back into work for staff from the Job Retention Scheme.

Nevertheless, the sector is facing longer-term recruitment challenges and there is clearly work to be done to encourage new entrants to the workforce to establish a pipeline of talent which can sustain hospitality businesses in the future. Undeniably it will be more important than ever for businesses in the hospitality sector to engage with schools, colleges and universities in order to highlight the huge benefits which the sector can offer new entrants, which include a diverse range of roles, accessible entry routes and huge potential for upward progression in a growing economic sector. It will also be important for hospitality businesses struggling to find the experienced staff they may need to lay the groundwork now and offer training programmes or apprenticeships to young people to encourage them into the sector and to equip them with the skills the industry needs in the future.

Government also has an important role to play to help the hospitality sector recover from the pandemic and plug staff shortages. With unemployment high and set to rise as government support unwinds, the onus will be on jobcentres to highlight the opportunities within the hospitality sector to those who are out of work and searching for new opportunities.

However, perhaps what is the most pressing concern for employers in the hospitality sector is the impacts of restricted migration and the new points-based system. It is likely that changes will need to be made to ensure the sector can access the talent it needs. One way of doing so in the short to medium term is by expanding the number of roles on the Shortage Occupation List. In the long term, Government needs to assess the impacts of the system and could look to embed more flexibility within it to ensure that the workforce can respond to rapidly changing business needs.

Budget 2020: What can we expect for Skills and Education?

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In this blog Niamh Corcoran takes a look back at the 2020 budget and the pledges made towards education and skills.

Wednesday’s budget saw the chancellor pledge to pump billions into the British economy, from investment into public services and infrastructure to a much-needed stimulus package to help businesses mitigate the impacts of the Coronavirus outbreak. Whilst there were few new announcements for further education and skills in the Budget, the Chancellor did confirm large cash-injections pledged in the Conservative manifesto earlier in the year. However, on a number of topics, such as reform to the apprenticeship levy and funding for apprenticeships, the Budget lacked specific detail and will need to be expanded upon in the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review

Sunak officially announced the expected £1.5 billion to refurbish buildings and facilities in further education colleges, as well as committing to a £2.5 billion National Skills Fund to develop adult skills. Few details about this fund have been released, but the Government has said there will be a widespread consultation in the spring to decide how this money will be spent.

The Budget also re-announced a £95 million boost for T Level providers to invest in cutting edge facilities and industry standard equipment to support the rollout of the new qualifications in autumn 2021, and £120 million to establish eight new Institutes of Technology, one of which will be New College Durham. The government hopes these Institutes will bring together employers and providers to deliver higher quality technical education and address local skills gaps.

Disappointingly, decisions about the apprenticeship levy seem to have been delayed until the spending review in autumn, despite warnings from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education that the levy has engendered a divide between large and small businesses. It is estimated that levy paying businesses have seen a 20% increase in apprenticeship starts, whilst small and medium non-levy paying businesses have cut their apprenticeship starts by 10%. Although the Government has committed to looking into improving the system in order to support “businesses of all sizes”, it would have been desirable to see the Budget addressing the malfunctioning system more comprehensively. For example, by making the system by which levy payers can transfer unspent funds to smaller businesses simpler and more efficient.

On a brighter note, the Chancellor pledged to “ensure sufficient funding is made available” to increase the number of apprenticeships in small and medium enterprises in 2020/21. Despite initial confusion resulting from a Treasury spokesperson claiming that no new funding was coming, the Association of Employment and Learning Providers has since received confirmation from the Government that there will be “significant” and fresh funding in the coming year and in the spending review. Whilst the detail of this is lacking, with the National Audit Office warning that current apprenticeship funding is unsustainable, this is a welcome move from Government and one which will please businesses and skills providers in the North East. Hopefully come the autumn spending review, the Government will commit to a figure which addresses the apprenticeship funding shortfall.

The commitment to renewed investment in further education and apprenticeships is a welcome move, with the sector having faced a decade of the deepest cuts in education. Undoubtedly, our members will be keen to make use of the funding streams confirmed by the Chancellor and play a key role in shaping the direction of the National Skills Fund. It is a step in the right direction towards reskilling our workforce and establishing a culture of life-long learning.

However, the absence of significant fresh funding into further education and skills, as well as a distinct lack of detail over how the Government will deliver its pledges is disappointing. Whilst capital investment into colleges is promising, the Government must also commit to sustained higher-levels of core per-pupil funding, as the Chamber called for in its letter to the Chancellor. With Further Education funding having been cut extensively since 2010, we hope that the Government will unveil a long-term funding plan for further education as part of its promise to level up the UK and eradicate the regional skills gaps that the North East currently suffers from.

All eyes will again be on the upcoming spending review in order to offer more clarity on how a long-term further education funding settlement will allow talent in the North East to fulfil its potential. Any specific funding announcements will also need to be twinned with effective communication and much needed clarity about accessing future funding, how the apprenticeship system will be reformed and what “sufficient” apprenticeship funding really means.

Colleges week

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Colleges Week has allowed us to celebrate our region’s excellent colleges and the important role they play in the North East. Colleges are engines of opportunity and offer people in our region the chance to reach their full potential. What is more, they help ensure that our region’s workforce have the skills that businesses need to succeed.

Whilst this week has shone a spotlight on the important role further education colleges play in our local community and economy, we have a long way to go in ensuring that the importance of colleges is recognised by policymakers. In the last decade, per-student funding has fallen by 12% in colleges, whilst funding into adult education has fallen by 45% in real terms. Successive years of disinvestment in the sector has disproportionately impacted people in the North East, with 50% of pupils in the region progressing into an apprenticeship or learning at a further education college, compared to just 26% of pupils in London.

The pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of young people and less qualified adults in economic downturns, as well as the important role colleges will play in the economic recovery from Covid-19. Colleges will be instrumental in supporting school-leavers into their first jobs, helping redundant workers back into the workplace or into new careers and ensuring that the skills needs of our rapidly changing economy are met.

This Government has been vocal in its support for colleges and its desire to see renewed focus on the further education system. Whilst the Government’s recent announcement of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee and £1.5bn cash injection for capital improvements are a start, much more needs to be done level up the further education system. With the FE White Paper on the horizon, now is the opportunity for Government to put its money where its mouth is and outline increased and long-term college funding agreements, more power for regional authorities to target local skills needs and a real commitment to life-long learning and training.

We must ensure that the further education system is fit for purpose and able to deliver the upskilling and reskilling of the workforce needed for the North East to truly “build back better”.