Creating a level playing field by giving those left behind a leg up
WE recently marked National Apprenticeship Week 2021 and, as chairman of the Ladder Apprenticeship Foundation, my colleagues and I are seeking to change the mood about work and vocational learning, through our newspaper campaigns, online forums and events.
These help to raise awareness, highlight and connect the opportunities for apprentices, employers and their trainers.
It is a tough time for all at the moment but there are still training opportunities, there are still employers with vacancies that need filling and National Apprenticeship Week is about magnifying those opportunities.
It has been a tough time for our region and even before Covid the barriers were, and are, individual and systemic, strongly correlated with poverty and low qualifications.
This pandemic has magnified that and has disproportionately impacted also on black, Asian and minority-ethnic communities, not just on health and mortality, sadly, but also on job sustainability.
The solutions are, of course, complex but we believe it requires a collaborative, joined-up, systemsbased approach to improving skills and enrichment opportunities for all, particularly for young people and disadvantaged communities.
This will incentivise and equip employers to hire and retain them.
It is about raising awareness and getting the data so that all can make informed decisions about what to do next.
That is what the Ladder is about. What if no-one was left behind? This is the question Prince Charles’ Business in the Community Network is asking.
As one of its West Midlands’ leadership board members, our overview of employment and skills activity recognises that, despite the scale of the challenge facing businesses and people as a result of the pandemic, there are opportunities for responsible business leaders to take action and support decent work, employment and skills development right now.
Our business network expounds that we need to expand horizons by supporting disadvantaged learners and jobseekers to experience the world of work and build the skills they need to be successful in education and employment.
We also need to develop essential skills by utilising government support through the Kickstart Scheme, offering apprenticeships and providing work experience and work placements.
A level playing field also needs to be created by removing barriers to recruitment for all and mitigating some of the worst impacts on the most vulnerable.
The Ladder and its partners are cheerleading these efforts.
Kevin Davis is chairman of the Ladder for Greater Birmingham campaign, an initiative launched in 2018 in partnership with Birmingham Post publisher Reach Midlands to create hundreds of apprentices across the city region by connecting candidates with employers.
For more information and to get involved visit ladderforbirmingham. co.uk or call 03332 409 699
The Business in the Community Network is hosting an online event at 2pm on Monday March 15, entitled ‘West Midlands - Together we can make sure no one gets left behind’. More details can be found at bitc-orguk
A BARGAIN retailer and coffee shop chain have signed up to open new sites in the Black Country.
Birmingham-based developer Hortons’ Estate is leading the project to build Birchley Island Retail Park in Oldbury and has agreed terms with B&M and Canadian café chain Tim Hortons.
Existing buildings on the site will be renovated and extended alongside new-build construction work.
B&M will create a 20,000 sq ft store and 5,000 sq ft external garden centre while Tim Hortons has committed to a lease of a new 2,800 sq ft standalone drive-thru restaurant that will be developed on the park.
Other planned work includes a retail facility of 20,750 sq ft, which Hortons’ Estate said was currently under offer, and an extension to the existing building to create a further 16,000 sq ft unit, earmarked for leisure use.
Hortons’ Estate has planning approval to deliver a total of 65,000 sq ft across the site of the old Toys ‘R’ Us store in Wolverhampton Road
There will also be alterations to the car park while an existing McDonald’s drive-thru will remain in situ. Construction work is due to commence in the spring.
Steve Tommy, head of asset management at Hortons’ Estate, said:
“We’re delighted that our plans for Birchley Island Retail Park have been approved. Sandwell Council has been very supportive of our vision for the redevelopment of the site and the potential it offers to create jobs for local people.
“This is a prime location that is clearly attractive to retail and leisure operators, despite challenging market conditions.
“It is very pleasing to have already signed occupiers of the calibre of B&M and Tim Hortons and to have a third building under offer.”
The Toys ‘R’ Us site has stood empty for three years following the collapse of the national toy chain.