Town Topics with Ipswich Chamber of Commerce
The Suffolk Skills Show was held recently at Trinity Park just outside Ipswich and saw hundreds of young people meet with local employers to discuss the opportunities our town and county’s economy can offer them in the years ahead.
Business played a very active and valued part in the day as they looked for ways to work with young people to address the ‘skills gap’ – how the students of today can learn the skills business of tomorrow needs.
It is one of the reasons why Suffolk Chamber of Commerce was delighted to be asked to manage a £1.5 million Norfolk and Suffolk Employer Training Incentive Pilot (ETIP), which supports the Government’s push for employers to invest more in skills and to have greater autonomy over skills decisions.
As an extension of the Greater Ipswich City Deal, an application was made by Ipswich Building Society, supported by Suffolk County Council to the Employer Ownership of Skills Fund for finance to run a small and medium sized enterprise (SME) Employer Training Incentive Pilot, giving employers 25% cash back (up to £1,000 per learner) on expenditure spent on training their workforce.
This important programme will give businesses control regarding their choice of registered provider used to train their staff and the training required.
It will target, but not be restricted to, businesses in the priority Growth Sectors such as energy, Food and Drink, Agriculture, manufacturing and ports and logistics.
Our local economy has an exciting future.
Dave Muller
Chair
Ipswich Chamber of Commerce
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