Express & Star

Black Country Skills Factory celebrates five years

The Black Country Skills Factory, which addresses skills shortages across the area, is celebrating five years in operation.

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Hywel Ruddick, Black Country Consortium; Sanjeev Gill, Sandwell College; Steve Smith, Lift & Engineering Services; Professor Ian Oakes, chairman Black Country Skills Factory; Colin Parker, director Black Country Skills Factory; David Woakes, Jonathan Lee Recruitment and Colin Mills, InComm

Since 2013 it has engaged with 800 businesses, brokered and organised funding for 2,000, established the Enterprise Adviser Network in senior schools and has been identified as a Careers Hub pilot.

It has been dealing with skills shortages in the five transformational sectors in the Black Country of advanced manufacturing, transport technologies, construction, environmental technologies and business services.

The Skills Factory has promoted and supported the expansion of high value engineering apprenticeships across the Black Country with apprenticeships in this sector doubling during the last five years.

Colin Parker, Black Country Skills Factory director, said: “The Black Country Skills Factory has had a fantastic impact over the last five years across careers education in the Black Country. From working with businesses to ensure we are helping them to address skills shortages through creating the right courses for employees to working with young people to help them understand all the possible careers path and the best ways they can be supported into work.”

The Black Country Skills Factory has received funding from UKCES, Education & Skills Funding Agency, European Social Fund, the Local Growth Deal and the Careers and Enterprise Company.