SkillsLab - Digital Futures Industry Event

Come along to the inaugural 'Digital Futures' event. You will be meeting an industry specialist and have the opportunity to ask questions about the development of training and skills in your business area. We will be developing industry boards for peer to peer opportunities moving forward.

The skills accelerator programme was born from the white paper Skills for Jobs supported by the department for education.

Fareham College is leading this exciting new project and working in partnership with nine other colleges and professional partners in the Solent region. Having successfully obtained the funding required from the Department for Education’s Strategic Development Fund for the design and development of a new College Business Centre. This will be based at Fareham College’s Bishopsfield Road campus. The spoke business centre will be based at the Isle of Wight college.

The aim of the project is to create the Solent region’s first Business Centres, to improve employers’ access to the region’s future skills training, with all ten colleges in the partnership contributing to and benefitting from the new facility. Working with businesses, the Centre will act as a ‘hub’ providing them with better access to the training they require, when and how they need it. The Solent region has good levels of entrepreneurship and small business start-up, but a disproportionally high level of small business failure. The key aim of the proposed Business Centre is to improve economic activity, particularly for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro-businesses. With access to business skills specialists, the new Business Centre will support SME growth, developing the region’s expanding technology sectors and creating a step-change in the capacity to improve clean growth and carbon reduction, digital futures and marine technology.

Principal and Chief Executive Andrew Kaye said, “Working in collaboration with the other colleges to deliver this new College Business Centre is an integral element to improving access for businesses to further education and skills training across the Solent region. Research demonstrates that there is a huge need for effective engagement between training providers and employers, and greater support for businesses to develop their own tailored learning and development programmes, in order to deliver the skills solutions that SMEs require to be successful. The new College Business Centre will be intrinsic in supporting businesses with growing and developing future talent in the Solent region.”

THE EVENT

Meeting the industry lead for this project along with the CEO of Fareham Andrew Kaye, director of business centres Beverley Poole and a representative of the Hampshire Chamber of commerce. This is set to be an exciting start to the development of the business centres and future skills in the region. The ultimate will be a highly skilled workforce, new businesses incubating great ideas and all supporting the economic development of the region.

Afternoon tea and refreshments will be provided and you will be able to sign up to be a part of the future industry boards meeting regularly at the business centres.

For further information please email Beverley.Poole@Fareham.ac.uk or call Fareham College on 01329 815200. We will be delighted to help.