A group of employers from Lancashire have been recognised after becoming the first set of organisations in the county to formally pledge to invest in the skills of people living and working in the county.
BAE Systems, Blackpool and The Fylde College, Brownlow Utilities, Carr Hill High School, Myerscough College, Brownlow Utilities, Conlon Construction, Crowberry Consulting Ltd, Lancashire County Council, Preston’s College, Runshaw College, South Ribble Borough Council, UCLan, Walter Carefoot & Sons (Construction) Ltd, Forbes Solicitors, Growth Lancashire, Lancashire Work Based Learning Forum and Plus24 Marketing were among 25 organisations across Lancashire invited to a celebration event where they were officially thanked for signing up to the Lancashire Skills Pledge.
A Christmas Skills Pledge campaign has been launched on social media to encourage more organisations in Lancashire to join.
The Lancashire Skills Pledge aims to recognise businesses that are already working to improve the skills of their staff and young people, and encourage other employers to get involved.
The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership’s Skills and Employment Hub runs the Skills Pledge which offers seven skills and training initiatives to local organisations.
If they adopt one or more of the initiatives on offer, they become a Lancashire Skills Pledge Partner.
At the celebration event, the first Skills Pledge Members were presented with their Lancashire Skills Pledge certificates by Steve Fogg, Chairman of Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
The #SkillsPledge campaign aims to recognise and celebrate the commitment and investment of Skills Pledge Members in upskilling and inspiring the people of Lancashire and promote their organisations as among the best to work for in Lancashire.
Simon Hughes, Vice Principal – Quality and Curriculum, Blackpool and The Fylde College, said: “If you love Lancashire and have a deep-rooted ambition to help the businesses and people of your county to be their very best, it’s essential that you get involved in the Skills Pledge.
“We’re stronger together – and pledging will give your business recognition for the things it does to upskill, recruit and inspire the people of Lancashire.”
Becky Toal, of Chorley-based Crowberry Consulting Ltd, said: “The Skills Pledge reflects our core values and it makes sense to align to this. The pledge can help to reinforce your business values show excellent people commitment and raise your profile.”
Neil Conlon of Preston-based Conlon Construction said: “By helping to train the skill resource of the county our regional industry with reap the benefit. The Skills pPledge is a perfect fit for our aspirations to make a social value impact in everything we do.”
Shaun McClarnon, MD of Skelmersdale-based Brownlow Utilities, said: “Having been an apprentice for Norweb over 30 years ago, I recognise the value that the investment had on my own personal career.
“I am keen to continue that investment, giving young, talented and eager individuals the chance to grow and develop a career which enables them to achieve all of their personal and professional objectives. As an Apprenticeship Ambassador for the region, we are showing our commitment to this.”
Joanne Pickering, Director of HR, Training and Quality, at Forbes Solicitors, which has offices across Lancashire, said: “The Skills Pledge is a fabulous opportunity to invest in your prospective and hopefully future workforce, whilst raising the profile of the different career opportunities you have in your organisations and to inspire the future workforce.”
LEP Chairman Steve Fogg said: “We want to congratulate and thank the Lancashire Skills Pledge Partners for signing up.
“Lancashire employers deserve recognition for the things they do to upskill their staff, provide job opportunities for local people and inspire young people.
“By helping local people improve their skill levels, employers enlarge the pool of talented workers they need to grow and thrive as well as helping individuals to improve their job prospects, so it is a win-win situation for everyone.
“The Lancashire Skills Pledge is the way that businesses can easily sign up to a number of initiatives we have launched to promote inclusive growth and maximise social value for the benefit of the local community as a whole.
“Through promoting economic growth and job creation in this way, we will transform the county’s economy over the next decade.”
LEP Board Director for Skills and Technical Education Amanda Melton said: “We want to celebrate the Skills Pledge Members who have already signed up, recognise their investment and commitment and highlight that they are among the best employers to work for in the county.
“We also want to encourage more employers to take the Skills Pledge. We can provide a wide range of support, training and expert help to support organisations to develop their staff and give back to their community.
“We strongly encourage employers to get in touch and find out what we can do for them and how they will benefit from signing up.”
