NEWS Archives - Page 10 of 16 - North East Local Enterprise Partnership

Opportunity to join North East LEP bid to secure ‘North East Ambition: Careers Hub’ in the region

Deadline for Expressions of Interest: Wednesday 9 May 2018

Following the launch of the new National Careers Strategy (December 2017), the updated Statutory Guidance for Schools and Colleges (Jan 2018) and the launch of the Careers Strategy Implementation Plan (April 2018), the Careers and Enterprise Company have released a prospectus for the development of 20 ‘Career Hubs’ across the country.

Acting on behalf of schools, colleges and businesses in the region, it is our intention to bid for and lead a Careers Hub in the North East LEP area.

The ‘North East Ambition: Careers Hub’ would form part of the support the North East LEP currently provides to schools and colleges through our North East Ambition Strategy – a core component of the region’s Strategic Economic Plan.

A Careers Hub is a group of between 20 and 40 schools and colleges located in the same geographic area (LEP region), working to ensure the Gatsby Benchmarks are delivered and that careers outcomes are improved for all young people.

Securing a Careers Hub for the North East will be a competitive process. Part of the application process requires us to name up to 40 schools and colleges that will form part of our Careers Hub here in the North East. The Careers and Enterprise Company have outlined in their Careers Hub Prospectus that its main target is “mainstream secondary schools and colleges, although we also welcome the inclusion of special schools and pupil referral units in bids. The target pupils are in years 7-13. Independent schools are not eligible to be part of the 20-40 schools/colleges.”

Should you wish your school / college to be involved in the North East LEP’s bid, please read the background information document.

Please read this document carefully as it provides details about some of the information you will need to include in your Expression of Interest.

If after reading the background information you do wish to apply to be part of the ‘North East Ambition: Careers Hub’, please complete the expression of interest form and return to us by emailing [email protected]. This will serve as your application and will be used by the North East LEP to select the 40 schools and colleges that will make up the Careers Hub in our region.

Completed Expression of Interest forms should be returned to [email protected] by 12pm on Wednesday 9 May 2018.

If, as part of your application, you wish to be considered a ‘Lead School/College’ please complete the section of the expression of interest form relating to ‘Lead School/College’.

Thank you – and we look forward to receiving your Expression of Interest.

Documents:

Background information

Expression of interest form

Opportunities with the North East LEP – Digital and Energy Programme Leads

The North East’s growing digital and energy sectors are two of the areas where we have huge potential to increase economic growth in the region. We have internationally recognised capabilities in these areas, leading research within our universities, and established clusters of ambitious, forward-thinking businesses.

Our digital and energy communities are a vital part of the region’s Strategic Economic Plan and now we’re looking for two individuals to join the team here at the North East LEP to take the lead in driving forward our digital and energy programmes – an Energy Programme Lead (2 year contract) and a Digital Programme Lead (3 year contract).

Our Programme Leads work closely with the business community, strengthening the profile of the North East nationally and internationally and working to secure investment and address opportunities and challenges in areas including innovation and skills.

These are innovative and exciting areas to work in and these two roles offer the opportunity to play a central part in driving growth and employment in these sectors.

We’re looking for people who have in depth knowledge of the sectors – not only the position now but their future direction – and the ability to work with representatives from industry, with business networks and research and education organisations of national and international standing.

It’s an opportunity to make a real difference to the future of the North East and to be a part of the small but brilliant team we have here at the North East LEP.

If you think you could be the person we’re looking for, we’d love to hear from you.

Find out more.

Helen Golightly, Executive Director, North East LEP

£120m North East Fund goes live

A £120m investment fund to drive local growth and job creation will now go live after the agreement was signed on 23 March 2018 by the representatives from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and The North East Fund Limited (TNEFL).

The North East Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, will offer a range of investments including equity, debt and mezzanine funding in the North East LEP area, which covers County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

It will provide financial support for over 600 businesses, creating around 3,500 jobs over the life of the fund and delivering a legacy of up to £80m for further investment over the next decade.

Experienced Fund Managers have been appointed to manage five separate funds which will cater to the needs of businesses at different stages across different sectors. Details of the Fund Managers are expected to be announced in early April.

Helen Golightly, Executive Director for the North East LEP, which led the project team negotiating for the region, said: “We have always believed that retaining investment funds exclusively for North East companies was the right decision and are grateful to the Treasury, EIB and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for their efforts and support to the team.

“This is a fantastic achievement for the North East and all the tireless work behind the scenes has now paid off.”

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Robert Jenrick, said: “This is an important step in ensuring that growth and opportunity are spread fairly across the country. The £120m investment will be a big boost to small businesses operating in the North East, driving productivity and bolstering the Northern Powerhouse’s economy.

“By generating thousands of new jobs and upskilling people across the region, the positive impact of this fund will be felt for generations to come.”

Jake Berry MP, Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth, said: “With over £120m of investment flowing into the region, strengthening local businesses and creating thousands of new jobs, the North East Fund signals another major economic boost to the Northern Powerhouse.

“It will provide welcome finance for smaller businesses across the North East to reach their full growth potential while bolstering the Northern Powerhouse’s reputation as a world-beating location to start and grow your business.”

Jonathan Taylor, EIB Vice President, said: “The North East Fund will help to unlock entrepreneurial drive and innovation across Northumbria, Tyneside, Wearside and County Durham. The EIB is pleased to provide £120m to support this unique initiative that will create thousands of new jobs and improve skills across the North East and replicates the proven success of similar investment across Europe.”

Andrew Mitchell, Chief Executive of the North East Fund, said: “This new Fund is a feather in the cap for the North East and a vote of confidence in our economic potential. The North East LEP’s backing has been critical to getting this across the line and we can now focus on investing on the brightest and best businesses in the region.”

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Notes to Editors

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) covers County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

Our role is to drive economic growth in North East England by supporting businesses and creating more and better jobs for everyone.

Over the next decade, we aim to help the North East create an extra 100,000 jobs. An ambitious target, but one we believe is achievable working with our partners in the public and private sectors.

Our Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) for the North East outlines how we will create more and better jobs including the identification of our areas of strength, referred to as our smart specialisation areas; passenger vehicle manufacturing; subsea and offshore; life sciences and healthcare; and creative, digital, software and technology based services, and our plan to bring investment and funding to the area.

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

The project is receiving up to £58,500,000 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

The North East LEP is looking to appoint a facilitator to support the LEP and four universities to review the existing Innovation Observatory arrangements and consider opportunities as part of the next steps.

Further information can be found here. Anyone interested in applying should provide the information requested in the specification via email to James Davies by midday on the 4 April 2018.

Derwentside College provides high quality education and training that helps learners to develop the knowledge, skills and qualities they need to achieve sustained employment and build successful careers.

Here principal and chief executive Karen Redhead tells the North East LEP about why it’s important to support the ageing workforce and its pioneering work with the over 50s.

Why is engaging with the over 50s so important?

The national picture, reflected here in the North East, shows the simple fact that we are all living longer, which means the over 50s are a growing demographic.

It’s also true that people are staying much more fit and healthy, meaning there is an increasing tendency – and appetite – for working into the later years.

In this region it’s no different. At Derwentside College, we often see people who have been made redundant or become a carer for another family member who want to resume working and need to retrain. They have a huge contribution to make in terms of skill set and work ethic.

Let’s also look at the economic argument. The North East has skills gaps that this part of the population can help close. What’s more, when people are physically and mentally active it contributes to their wellbeing, in turn reducing their reliance on the healthcare system and state.

With all this in mind, the over fifties are a talent pool we’d be silly to overlook.

How does the work you are doing fit with the North East LEP’s retrain, regain, retain campaign and the government’s Fuller Working Lives Strategy?

The LEP’s retrain, regain, retain work in line with the government’s Fuller Working Lives Strategy is extremely welcome. Our offer fits in very nicely with this.

Derwentside College is one of the UK’s largest providers of apprenticeships and last year just over a thousand of our apprentices were aged fifty or above.

We have many, many cases in which employers have had the foresight to see the benefits of retraining their existing workforce. In this instance, our job is to provide training and developing opportunities to help them unlock the potential of their older employees.

Where we align ourselves heavily with the LEP is in the drive to create ‘more and better jobs’. In particular that means helping people to move into the better jobs category, which is where someone is classed as holding a level 3 or above qualification.

Our focus is on the delivery of a recognisable level five qualification and leadership and management skills that support the technical skills of the individual in the sector they have been working.

How is Derwentside College working with employers to help them unlock their workforce potential and recruit more over 50s?

Our employer base is incredibly diverse – we are a significant provider within the public sector and we work with a lot of private companies to up skill their workforce.

We also work with a number of partners to ensure an appropriate skills pipeline.

Crucially, we have an outstanding partnership with Jobcentre Plus through which we work with the unemployed. This is hugely successful because we base our training provision around market needs, giving businesses access to the talent that they need and want. We have around 300 learners over fifty taking part.

We offer a specific course for the over 50s called ‘Pace and Purpose Fifty Plus’ and this links with Jobcentre requirements. The aim of this is to get the long-term unemployed back into a college environment so they can retrain in a way that’s comfortable to them.

In terms of our work with employers, we apply a very tailored approach to each one. We spend time understanding the issues, find solutions, help them train their staff and make sure this all marries with their policies.

Our work academies linked to specific sectors and employers have been particularly popular. Our contract with caravan manufacturer Erwen Hymer is a great example of this.

Erwen Hymer needs to increase its 500-strong workforce to 700. In response we have developed a manufacturing academy focused on the unemployed to deliver the skills it requires. It’s been a brilliant way to get learners into jobs to everyone’s benefit.

A project manager has been appointed to support the delivery of a ground-breaking education programme.

Neil Willis will lead the North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Education Challenge.

The role will see Neil spearhead the Next Generation Learning project, which aims to reduce the gap between the region’s best and lowest performing secondary schools and improve social mobility in our young people.

Neil brings extensive experience to the role, having spent 16 years as a science teacher and in senior leadership in secondary schools in the North East.

In 2016, he began working across schools as an Education Consultant, developing projects including STEM-specific provision through the National STEM Centre, teacher training and CPD, faculty improvement and school improvement.

Over the past two years, Neil has been involved in North East Futures University Technical College (UTC), which saw him build a significant amount of partnerships with regional industry to enrich the curriculum and bring industry into the classroom.

Newcastle University graduate Neil said: “I am very excited to play a part in shaping the education landscape and driving change through the LEP’s Education Challenge.

“Building on the success of Gatsby Foundation’s Career Benchmarks, the Education Challenge will support teachers, schools, governors and leaders to integrate careers learning into the curriculum to ensure those entering the workforce in the future have the skill level to support our diverse economy and are fully aware of the progression routes available to make this happen.”

The appointment comes after the North East LEP area was selected by Ford Next Generation Learning and The Edge Foundation as the first area internationally to translate elements of the successful ‘Academies of Nashville’ model to the UK.

The Academies of Nashville model transformed attendance, attainment and progression by placing employers and business partners alongside teachers and school leaders to develop highly personalised approaches to progression.

The Next Generation Learning project aims to replicate this success.

Michelle Rainbow, Skills Director at the North East LEP, said: “The North East is leading the way when it comes to implementing outstanding careers provision within education.

“Neil brings with him vast skills and experience, which will be a great asset to furthering the aims of the Education Challenge. We are delighted to welcome him to the team.”

The North East Local Enterprise Partnership (North East LEP) will unveil its first annual ‘Our Economy’ report at Sage Gateshead on Tuesday 6 March 2018.

Presenting an overview of the North East economy and how it is changing over time, the new report will become an important resource for government, policymakers and businesses operating in the region.

Andrew Hodgson, Chair of the North East LEP said: “It’s important we track our progress and monitor our economic performance so we position the North East to take advantage of future developments, including those arising from the Government’s recently published Industrial Strategy.

“Our annual review of the North East economy will ensure we remain on track to deliver the refreshed Strategic Economic Plan and reach our aim of creating 100,000 more and better jobs by 2024.”

As well as providing a comprehensive look at the regional economy, ‘Our Economy’ will also look, in-depth, at a topical issue affecting the North East. In 2018 that topic will be ‘the North East in the global economy’.

Victoria Sutherland, Senior Economist at the North East LEP said: “We’re bringing an expert panel of speakers together from business, education and government to discuss the importance of international relations and what the North East needs to do to build stronger international links going forward.

“Our keynote speaker will be a North East business already trading internationally, and they will share how other regional businesses can follow in their footsteps.”

Our Economy 2018 – with insights into global connections, takes place at Sage Gateshead on Tuesday 6 March from 08:30-11:00. Places are free but must be booked in advance using the Eventbrite form

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As Chair of the North East LEP, I head up a board of talented representatives from the region’s private, public and education sectors. Alongside the Leaders and Elected Mayors from each of our seven local authority areas, the board members help to guide the strategy and direction of the North East LEP.

We’re now seeking a new board member who has the passion to help us drive forward the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) for the region, bringing economic growth to the North East.

It’s an exciting time to join us here at the LEP, as we continue to make progress towards our target of adding 100,000 more and better jobs to the region’s economy by 2024.

Already, since we launched the SEP three years ago, we’ve added more than 55,000 new jobs to the regional economy and we believe that, working together with the wider business community, we can achieve our ambitious targets for growth.

Our board members are champions for the region and we are fortunate to have some of the North East’s leading figures in business and education already working with us. Their experience, insight, and belief in the North East is vital to our work.

This is a truly exciting opportunity for a representative of the region’s private sector to join the board and we are looking forward to welcoming a new member to play an active role in supporting the economic growth of our region.

So if you have a detailed understanding of the challenges and opportunities which face us here in the North East; proven business experience and a strong insight into a range of business sectors; and the commitment to help us bring more and better jobs to the region, then we want to hear from you.

Board members are appointed for an initial term of three years, with the option to serve up to six years. This non-executive post is not remunerated. A detailed job description can be viewed here.

To find out more about the opportunity, contact Jim Allcroft at NRG on 0191 260 4483 / 07968 862 638 or by email to [email protected]

Andrew Hodgson, Chair, North East LEP

North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Senior Economist Victoria Sutherland gave her reaction to today’s regional labour market statistics.

“We are pleased to see that employment continues to grow across the North East region. Today’s data shows the number of people in employment has grown by 34,000 over the last year, with 11,000 more people in work over the quarter.

“Once a quarter we get more detailed statistics than in other months and today is one of those occasions. These additional data show that there has been growth in service sector jobs of 24,000 over the year. Within that, we are particularly pleased to see growth in the information and communications sector, which includes many of the region’s digital companies, and growth in professional, scientific and technical activities.

“We are also pleased to see that the manufacturing sector, which has always played a critical role in the North East economy, has grown, with 8,000 more jobs over the year.

“We are continuing to see unemployment decline. Our unemployment rate is now 5.2%, compared to 6.8% last year. This is the largest decline in the unemployment rate of all English regions over the year.

“The number of people unemployed is down 7,000 over the quarter and 20,000 over the year.

“There has been growth in both full and part-time workers and across both employee jobs and self-employment. This is different to the national picture, where self-employment has fallen. We have seen a decline in the number of workers with second jobs and the number of people in temporary jobs. Combined, these suggest that demand for labour is growing.

“The North East LEP will continue to work with partners to ensure individuals have the skills to take up the opportunities being created by the North East’s employers.”

Tag: NEWS

Open call to North East secondary schools and colleges

In conversation with Helen Golightly…. Programme leads sought to drive forward our digital and energy programmes

£120m fund for the North East goes live

£120m North East Fund goes live

Innovation Observatory workshop facilitator

In conversation with Karen Redhead, chief executive of Derwentside College: Supporting the ageing workforce

Education Challenge Project Manager appointed

North East LEP to publish first, annual ‘Our Economy’ report

North East LEP seeks new board member

North East LEP ONS Regional Labour Market Statistics Reaction