New appointments made at Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber to drive skills agenda

A trio of new appointments at Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce will help to make sure businesses can have their say on what skills are needed to help them grow.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and the Black Country Chamber of Commerce were selected by the Department for Education to lead on the region’s Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) in the autumn in what was described as a ‘game-changing shift’.

LSIPs have been designed by Government to put employers at the centre of the skills system in their region and to build a stronger, more dynamic partnership between employers and further education providers.

It will mean skills provision can be more responsive to the local labour market needs.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has taken on three new members of the team to co-ordinate its LSIP work and to engage with hundreds of businesses across the region to find out what their future skills needs might be.

Rajpal Kaur will head up the Chamber’s LSIP team, Gurprit Singh will lead on business engagement and Adele Wheatley will co-ordinate activity.

They will be carrying out a detailed research exercise – including online surveys, roundtable events, telephone calls and one-to-one meetings with employers over the coming weeks and months.

Crucially, that research will go beyond Chamber membership and will include businesses affiliated to other representative organisations in the region as well as companies that are not members of a business body.

It will result in a report that identifies the true needs of employers in the region and will set out a plan to work with education and skills providers to help deliver provision that businesses require.

That report will remain ‘live’ so that shifting needs are identified and addressed.

Corin Crane, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are delighted to have our team in place to deliver this crucial piece of work with businesses in the region.

“Getting the right staff, with the right skills to make sure a business is as productive as possible and can develop new products and find new markets has been a critical issue for businesses for a generation.

“LSIPs are a chance for local businesses to seize control of the agenda and put their skills needs at the front of the debate about education and training for the next generation. This is our opportunity to work with key public sector partners to mould a new system of training and development that puts businesses at its heart.

“As I said when we were asked to deliver on LSIPs for Coventry and Warwickshire last year, this is a game-changing shift in the way we look at the skills need of the economy as it will put employers in the region at the centre of what is required and what is delivered.

“As a Chamber, we are in constant dialogue with businesses across the patch so have an existing understanding of what the issues are and where there are gaps. That means we are much better placed than a team in Whitehall to be able to create a report and actions required.

“We’ll be talking to companies of all sizes and sectors and those within our membership and those outside of it too. It has to be a comprehensive view because this is a massive issue, so it’s vital that as many businesses as possible have their say.

“Rajpal, Gurprit and Adele will be getting in touch with firms over the coming days and weeks and I’d urge companies to engage with them so we can make a serious dent in the skills gap in Coventry and Warwickshire.”