East

Versatility comes with world class skills in the East of England

Norman Jennings, East of England Brokerage Consortium

A new, versatile and impartial service is now available to Employers across the region in order to help them improve their organisation by developing the skills of their workforce.

This service is called Train to Gain and is a national government initiative funded by the Learning Skills Council that offers free and impartial advice on training and workforce development to businesses and organisations in all sectors.

A Train to Gain Skills Broker works with organisations to carry out a free review and analysis of business needs in order to assess what skills the business needs now, and what it might need in the future - based on a clear understanding of the business goals and the development needs of the organisation's workforce skills. The skills broker then advises on the various training options that may be available for either funded or costed training.

Train to Gain is a national initiative, and operating in the East of England region are two skills brokerage organisations who are engaging with employers to ensure their training and staff development is right for them and their employees. The two brokerage organisations are the East of England Brokerage Consortium (EEBC) and The Consultants Home Counties (TCHC).

By working together under the Train to Gain service, skills brokers and training providers are able to ensure the needs of employers are met through flexible delivery, delivered at a time and place to suit the recipient. The seamless service provides maximum opportunity for an employer to ensure it gets value for money when developing its staff along with minimum bureaucracy and paperwork.

The counties that make up the Train to Gain East of England region - Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire - have a wide variety of sectors to which the Train to Gain message needs to be communicated.

EEBC Director of Skills Development, Norman Jennings, commented that the Broker Consortium through Train to Gain is bringing world class skills to not only a large but diverse region. 'East of England is unusual in that as a region there are wide variety of skills and a wider spread of industries with different needs and as skills brokers, we are bringing Train to Gain to all aspects of the region's businesses.'

'As Train to Gain brokers, we work with providers to bring training solutions to employers. Train to Gain is open to all companies and provides guidance for skills development at all levels in a company, and brokers are able to help an organisation find solutions to its staffing skills needs from the many providers in the market place and where appropriate to include subsidies and part-funded skills programmes.'

The diversity of business and skills across the East of England includes the agriculture heartland of Norfolk and Suffolk, the research and development and knowledge based industries of the university city of Cambridge and Cambridgeshire, and the manufacturing and service-based concentrations along the Hertfordshire and Essex borders with Greater London.

The East of England has a tremendous role to play in the success of the 2012 Olympic Games. As Train to Gain brokers, both EEBC and HCTC are actively working with those organisations which will have a direct impact on the games to ensure the skills of their employees are adding value to the business.

Mr Jennings added, 'In the East of England region, we already have a high degree of skills, borne out by the number of research, development and knowledge-based businesses especially around Cambridge. With Train to Gain we have the added flexibility to address the skills needs of the whole workforce and across all levels.'

Mr Jennings acknowledged the task within the East of England and the importance of the role the EEBC and HCTC Train to Gain brokers have when operating across such a diversity of companies and industries. 'the brokers have an exceptional task in our region to identify and encourage businesses and work towards developing their staff. However, we have the drive and enthusiasm to make it work.'

To find out how your organisation can benefit from Train to Gain contact 0845 600 5024 or email info@ttgbroker.com to book appointment with a Skills Broker.