Free skills training available to West Midlands’ metals businesses

- To help businesses through the recession, funding for skills training is being offered to West Midlands SMEs in the metals sector -

Metals businesses in the West Midlands are being offered full funding for skills training under a unique agreement developed between The Iron and Steel Industry Training Trust and Metskill, the skills body for the metals industry. The funding is to be offered for a limited time only, and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

The funding announcement comes hot on the heels of research from Semta, the skills council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies, which reveals that engineering skills vacancies in the West Midlands are costing the regional economy £141 million a year[1].

To be eligible, companies must be based in the West Midlands and employ less than 250 people. Technical Programmes are funded up to a maximum of £600 per candidate for up to 6 candidates per company.

Neil Smith, Managing Director of Metskill, said: “These training programmes have proven effective in improving a company’s quality and competitiveness - upskilling will make companies fitter for future growth. Funding, specialised support and programmes are designed to meet the needs of employers in the West Midlands.

“Semta research shows there are significant skills shortages in the West Midlands that need to be filled. So we urge West Midlands businesses to take advantage of this offer, as the benefits are clear, quantifiable and can have a huge impact on the bottom line of small to medium sized businesses in particular.”

W H Tildesley Ltd, a family owned metal forging company from the West Midlands, is already taking advantage of the agreement to fund skills training. According to Managing Director John Tildesley, “The West Midlands Iron & Steel Industry Trust Funding has proved invaluable to our business in these challenging times. We have successfully used Metskill in partnership with the Trust fund for both management and operational technical development training. Having access to the Trust fund has meant we are still able to continue to train our workforce, ensuring we have a competitive edge and the right skills in place for the future”

To enquire further about the free funding available, please contact Jill Eason at jill.eason@metskill.co.uk or call 0114 244 6833.

[1] Between March 2006/2007, it is estimated that hard to fill vacancies cost the West Midlands economy over £141 million in lost GVA – Gross Value Added.