A FORMER apprentice and an engineering graduate joined forces with leading North-east business figures in urging firms to help tackle the region’s skills gap.
Together they addressed representatives of businesses from the region’s science, engineering and manufacturing sectors at the ‘Maximising Your Business Growth’ seminar, at the Excel Centre in Newton Aycliffe yesterday.
Opening the event, organised by Semta, the sector skills council, its North-east Regional Council chairman, Kevin Fitzpatrick, said there was a real need for businesses to act now or face a skills shortage in the future. He said: “Many people see apprentices as a cost when they should see it as an investment which can transform their business. Only 16% of companies in this region employ apprentices at this time. It is a situation which needs to be readdressed.”
Earlier, Semta’s North East Regional Council member, Mike Matthews, said: “Upskilling our workforce is going to be critical for the survival of businesses.”
Mr Matthews, managing director of Stockton-based plastics specialists, Nifco, added: “With university fees rising, young people are looking for different ways to get on. However, only 16% of North-east engineering and manufacturing companies currently recruit apprentices or graduates.
“Those that do are able to keep up with technical developments by training people for specific jobs depending on their business needs, and they find themselves with a motivated, empowered and competitive workforce”.
John Evans, of Stockton-based Caterpillar, told the audience of his rise to facility manager after starting out life on a YTS scheme in 1980. He said: “It is not just about opportunity and people taking the opportunity, it is also about employers giving young people the opportunity in the first place.”
Mr Fitzpatrick, who is vice president and NMUK Operations Director, said: “It doesn’t matter whether a company is small, medium or large, there is a massive business incentive to invest in skills - that is the message we need to get out and encourage everyone to take the opportunities that are available.”
Semta, with offices at Wynyard Park, encourages companies to invest in training and development.