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Spotlight on Bury College – Working with Employers - 25-Jan-2010
Many organisations offer training, but few provide a complete service that meets the needs of individuals, local businesses and the community. Bury College offers a comprehensive range of courses and training solutions to suit all needs. It currently works with over 750 employers and over 4000 employees across the region. Training includes National Vocational Qualifications, Train to Gain, Skills for life qualifications, University qualifications, bespoke and non-accredited training and work-based training programmes including Apprenticeships.
Dedicated employer training from Business Solutions
The colleges’ dedicated employer training arm is Bury College Business Solutions. Business Solutions recognised very early within its development that by providing a one stop shop for employers, companies were more likely to return to an organisation that offered a complete workplace solution. They now work closely with many local businesses and trade unions, and have built strong partnerships with companies including Boots, Royal Mail, First Manchester, Keystone Distribution Centre and Argos.
Business Solutions provide essential training and skills development to help businesses increase profits and improve efficiency. Its services are flexible and responsive and most importantly tailored to meet the needs of each individual business. To meet specific industry needs, Bury College offers bespoke training solutions and to help employers get the right training, business advisors carry out a free training needs analysis.
Carol McKenzie, Executive Director: Development, says, “It’s not just about offering a training course; it’s about finding out what training is right for the company and its employees. Our team of dedicated business advisors all come from an industrial background and each employer is assigned a Key Account Manager. Much of the success of Business Solutions is due to the excellent relationships that team members develop with the employers and employees that they work with.”
One company that has been working with Business Solutions for over a year is Expert Logistics. With 25 years experience of delivering white and brown goods, Expert Logistics have a broad client base that includes trade and domestic customers.
Over the past 12 months Expert Logistics, in partnership with Bury College Business Solutions, has provided a wealth of new learning opportunities for its workforce. Staff have gained new skills and qualifications in areas such as IT and Warehousing.
Managing Director of Expert Logistics David Ashwell said, “The courses with Bury College Business Solutions are a great opportunity for our staff to learn on the job. The college has been very supportive and I’ve received great feedback from our staff. The courses have improved our staff morale, which I believe will help with our retention rates. I am very impressed with the service we have received from Bury College and would definitely recommend them to other companies.”
Beverly Williams works in Client Support at Expert Logistics, she said, “The NVQ helped to consolidate the skills I needed to complete the tasks in my role as it developed.”
As part of the College, Business Solutions has access to a range of funding opportunities to help employers meet the cost of training - including Train to Gain. Train to Gain provision allows employees to gain a full NVQ Level 2 qualification free of charge and partial funding may also be available towards the cost of a first NVQ Level 3 and 4.
Most recently Bury College has been offering support during the downturn for those who are unemployed, under notice of redundancy or out of work. Working with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), Jobcentre Plus and the European Social Fund Bury College has recently accessed over £350,000 of funding in order to support individuals at risk of redundancy or currently unemployed. This funding enables the college to run additional courses to help individuals who are unemployed and offer those in employment the chance to gain qualifications such as Assessor and Verifier awards.
Heather Starr, Director of Business Solutions and Train to Gain commented, “We have access to many funding opportunities which means companies can continue to train their employees in these difficult times. Our dedicated team of business advisors can help companies access flexible, low cost training that will help them stay productive and ahead of the competition. The funding through the LSC has allowed us to develop new programmes to support unemployed people, giving them the chance to gain the relevant skills needed to find employment.”
All the colleges’ hard work in employer engagement has not gone unnoticed and in recognition of its work with employers, Bury College has joined the select few colleges in the country to be awarded the new Training Quality Standard (TQS) for employer engagement. The award recognises the work of the college in delivering outstanding training and development for businesses and their employees. The TQS was also awarded for the college’s Early Years provision for Excellence in Childcare. High standards across employer engagement also helped to earn Bury College its grade 1 from Ofsted and Beacon Status.
Underlining the college’s strong partnerships with employers, Carol McKenzie, Executive Director: Development, says, “We work hard to build strong relationships with every employer we work with. Bury College provides a vast range of training courses that suit the needs of individuals and employers across the North West. Training staff is really important to any business and has great benefits for the learners as well. For every £1 a learner invests in training they can expect a return of £3.50 in higher future earnings during their careers.”
Business Solutions also provide networking opportunities for employers by offering business breakfasts and PACE networks in addition to meeting room facilities and room hire.
Meeting employer needs through Apprenticeship training
To meet the needs of local employers, Bury College offers over 19 different Apprenticeships. Each year, over 130,000 companies recruit Apprenticeships because they recognise the benefits Apprenticeships bring to their business.
Bury College Apprenticeships successfully work with over 800 Apprentices in 650 businesses across Greater Manchester. Their success rate for 2008/2009 stands at 74%, this is above the average for the region and also above the national average of 66%.
John Darbyshire, Bury College’s Director of Work Based Learning commented, “The Apprenticeship programme is an effective way for a company to train its staff. Apprentices can bring a lot to any business. By gaining skills that are relevant to the industry they work in, employers can see an increase in productivity helping them to keep a competitive edge. Other benefits include improved staff retention and a dedicated workforce.”
Kids Kapers, an award winning nursery in Kearsley is working closely with Bury College to provide six Apprentices on the Children’s Care, Learning & Development programmes with an exceptional experience. One of their Apprentice’s who has returned to learning after many years is Janette Messitt. Janette who has twin teenage sons and a teenage daughter is working towards her Advanced Apprenticeship, Janette says, “We never stop learning. Our Assessor is always at the end of the phone to talk through anything we’re not sure of.”
Working with employers in Further Education
The college’s work with employers doesn’t just stop at training and skills development. As the largest provider in the borough, Bury College offers 34 AS and A Level subjects, giving students an unparalleled choice of combinations of subjects to help them achieve their ambitions. To ensure it offers a flexible and appropriate curriculum, Bury College works with a range of local and national employers and industry groups. The college sees its students as the workforce of the future and is keen to ensure that the skills they learn meet the needs of employers and industry.
Students benefit from industry speakers who are invited to attend the college on a regular basis. Guest speakers offer a glimpse of the working world and offer valuable feedback from their sectors. The Territorial Army often visit the college to discuss career options with students. Close links have been developed with the Army, and Bury College has since been selected as a delivery centre for the Army Bursary Scheme. The college has also worked in partnership with The Midland Hotel in Manchester to enrich the Catering curriculum by offering Catering students the opportunity to gain skills that will make them more employable in the future.
Students frequently visit local employers to gain an insight into careers, for example Trafford Centre (Retail), Slattery’s (Confectionery), Warburtons (Bakery). The National Diploma Cadet Scheme programme has developed close links with local NHS where full-time learners spend two days per week on placement in local hospitals (Fairfield and North Manchester) where they receive a full employee induction and are treated as a member of staff. In addition full-time learners on Level 1, 2 and 3 Childcare courses attend work experience at levels above benchmark through their course. The Level 2 and 3 learners for example attend work experience for 50% of their programme. Placements are with local authority schools, local authority special schools, private day nurseries, pre-school day nurseries, and are identified through close working with organisations Bury College work closely with, including Sure Start and Bury Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership.
By working in partnership with a wide range of local employers, Bury College is training for the future. Alongside traditional college facilities Bury College also houses an industry standard Hair and Beauty Salon, a new state of the art Engineering Centre which contains all the latest equipment to train students for jobs in the industry and a working restaurant, the 3CZons, which is run during term time by students.
Work with employers also continues through to high school. The college’s well-established Year 9 ‘Choices’ event is aimed at helping students and their parents to make an informed choice on GCSE options. A major part of the event involves engaging a diverse range of employers to be on hand at the event to provide information on career options. There is no other borough-wide event that allows such choice and discussion between parents, pupils employers, training and career advisors.
Working with partner organisations
Bury College and Business Solutions are seen as valuable partners with a number of business support agencies. There has been a strong and growing partnership with Bury MBC with membership of the Bury Business Support Group, Bury Employment Group and Bury Economic Forum. The team has built strong partnerships with Bury Groundwork Trust, ADAB (Asian Development Association of Bury) and Bury Employment Support and Training agency.
Bury College is justifiably proud of its links with industry and is all too aware of the importance of working closely with employers. The college’s approach is totally customer focused and it strives to develop its provision not only to meet the needs of business and industry but to improve the prospects of each of its learners.
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