Praise for Lancashire businesses upskilling and hiring local people

Businesses from sectors ranging from recycling to construction, and from navigation to sales and marketing, met at County Hall in Preston to celebrate their success in upskilling and recruiting local people as part of the Lancashire Skills Pledge.

This is a ground breaking initiative, run by the Lancashire Skills and Employment Hub, which supports Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Council and Blackpool Council.

It provides a simple 'front door' for businesses to get support in providing skills and employment programmes across Lancashire, meaning that they get to build their future workforce, support young people in schools, universities and colleges, recruit locally and reskill their employees.

Since the launch of the Lancashire Skills Pledge in May 2019, 448 business have registered their interest, 257 businesses are members who are actively engaged in 582 Pledges, and since last year's event, membership has grown by 32 businesses and 108 pledges.

Lancashire businesses received certificates for their commitment to the scheme from County Cllr Ashley Sutcliffe, while special trophy awards were also given to those businesses that had shown outstanding commitment.

Among these were Lancashire businesses including local metal and waste recycling business Recycling Lives, Rossendale construction firm B&E Boys, specialist navigation firm Forsberg, Preston based sales, marketing and management firm whY-us and Blackpool software development firm Code Galaxy, who revealed the benefits in being part of the scheme.

Also in the spotlight was Blackburn College, who praised the network of opportunities for their students thanks to work experience, helping them to develop technical and professional competence, while Ribblesdale High School also highlighted how the scheme's Enterprise Adviser (business volunteer) inspired students in assemblies, giving tours and helping with mock interviews as well as CVs.

Apprentice and apprentice ambassador Dan Ogden spoke of his positive experience and how other young people can access apprenticeship opportunities.

Meanwhile, a new Skills Pledge called 'Support Care Leavers' was also launched, which will encourage businesses to support young people who've been in the care system to move from education into the world of work.

County Councillor Phillippa Williamson said: "This was such an inspirational event to be involved with and it was brilliant to see so many businesses who are committed to re-skilling and up-skilling their employees.

"I am passionate about this subject, as having a highly skilled workforce is so important to the Lancashire economy.

"That is why it is one of the flagship areas within our devolution proposal as well as championed by Lancashire County Council."

Mo Isap, interim chair of the Lancashire Business Board said: "It was excellent to see so many businesses celebrating their commitment to the Lancashire Skills Pledge at the annual celebration. 

"As interim chair of the newly formed Lancashire Business Board, I am keen to encourage as many Lancashire businesses as possible to sign up to the pledge and commit to growing our future talent pipeline and skills base – to the benefit of both our people and our businesses.

"Together we can grow our businesses and accelerate economic growth, to the benefit of Lancashire people."

Are you a local employer who may be interested in finding out more Lancashire Skills Pledge?

We encourage you to join a growing group of fabulous Lancashire employers and embrace the benefits that being a Skills Pledge member will bring to your business. You can do this by visiting lancashireskillspledge.co.uk