Over the past twelve months there has been much debate amongst leading economists as to whether the UK economy is expanding, flat-lining, or heading back into recession. Another set of disappointing GDP figures for the last quarter indicated that we are still in positive territory, but only just.

On the local scene, I am pleased to report that here in Leicester and Leicestershire the trading position of many of our local businesses is far more positive than the national picture. In the Leicestershire Chamber’s Quarterly Economic Survey in September 2011, we found that 85% of the businesses we surveyed were projecting that their turnover was either going to increase in the next 12 months or remain roughly the same.

Clearly the position for domestic and overseas orders is softening yet our local companies remain optimistic. For those companies involved in exporting, 93% are projecting that orders in the subsequent months will either increase or remain the same. All in all, our local businesses are far more upbeat about the future than many economists would have us believe.

Again on the positive side, our survey revealed that over 35% of our businesses are planning to take on additional employees in the next three months, which is very good news for the local economy.

However, these companies are also reporting difficulties in finding people with the right skills to fill these new positions.

To emphasise this point further, if you look at the October claimant count you will find that unemployment in Leicester and Leicestershire fell by 585, which is also contrary to the national picture. This was in line with our projections and is obviously very welcome news. Unfortunately for our local employers the news was not so positive where we again witnessed a sharp rise in the number of vacancies.

Our figures show that the number of vacancies between Job Centre Plus and the private sector employment agencies is somewhere between 18,000 and 20,000.

When compared against the 21,949 people claiming jobseekers allowance this becomes a worrying statistic and poses the question as to whether we actually have structural unemployment.

As you would expect the reasons behind this mismatch between those seeking employment and the type of jobs on offer is both numerous and complex, however at the very heart of this issue is the lack of relevant skills for the new jobs being created.

Local companies have started to recognise that they will need to play a far more proactive role in training their workforce for the future needs of the business and this is where business and FE must work more closely together.

This problem is not going to cure itself and will require joint action between the public and private sector to ensure that we develop a local workforce that has the right skills to meet the present and future needs of business.

Unfortunately, unless we get on top of this problem, then it will certainly have a detrimental impact on our local economy and will hold back any prospect of an early end to this recession.

Martin Traynor Group Chief Executive
Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce

Brian Bishop says Leicester College has helped him to turn his life around

Before his financial collapse he lost his younger brother who was dear to him and that shook him up so much that he proposed to put his life straight.

The death of his brother occurred after Brian got divorced. Before that he was in and out of prison for 13 years for a string of petty crimes.

In the hostel, he met a volunteer worker who was a former member of staff from the College who informed him about courses he could study at Leicester College to help him back on his feet.

Brian, who previously worked as a steel fitter, had always been attracted to graphic arts and so enrolled in the Access to HE: Media Visual Communication course which he successfully completed in 2011.

Just a few months after graduating, he applied for a sub-editor position with a new magazine named Down Not Out being published by the charity Action Homeless. He was hired and started in his new job in mid-January 2012. The magazine – similar to Big Issue – is expected to hit the streets in March 2012. Brian is also receiving assistance to start up his own graphic design company.

“If it wasn’t for Leicester College, I couldn’t have done this,” he said.

His advice to others: “You can turn your life around. I did it and so can you.”

Refurbishment of the former Centre for the Deaf at Freemen’s Park Campus is expected to start in 2012

The college’s current PMLD premises are based at Glenfield Hospital. The Frith Outreach Centre delivers a personalised approach to learning for people with profound and multiple learning difficulties. These include persons with physical disabilities, sensory impairment (visual, hearing or multi-sensory) or complex medical conditions.

The curriculum includes opportunities for participation in creative studies such as music, art and drama and personal development in citizenship and building positive relationships with the wider community.

Programme Area Manager Franki Williams said, though the present building has benefited in recent years from investment in new technology, it is not purpose-built and has outgrown its capacity. However the new centre, to be located in the former Action for Deafness building (now Freemen’s Park Block D) will enable the college to extend its person-centred approach to learning and to accommodation more learners.

“The new premises will offer specialist sensory rooms and learning environments which will enable learners with high support needs to access resources which promote communication, social relationships and self-determination. We will continue to work with multi-disciplinary health and social care teams to ensure learners’ receive the highest quality of care and opportunities to extend their learning for living.”

“Learners will have access to the full range of college facilities and their involvement in the college community will support inclusion for all learners at Leicester College,” she said.

Refurbishment of the former Centre for the Deaf is expected to start in 2012 and completed by September 2013.

The task: To select, price and sell cakes, cookies and pastries at Leicester Market over a three and a half hour period from 10:30am to 2:00pm. When the clock strikes 2pm, they return to face Principal Maggie Galliers in her Boardroom at Freemen’s Park Campus where the results are tallied and where she tells only one learner: You’re Hired!

The two teams comprise learners from Business, Computing, Food, Care, ESOL (foreign language speakers learning English), Continuing Studies, and Performing Arts.

On the day, the learners will be allocated to teams, they will vote for a team leader, select a team name and conceptualise a marketing strategy.

The Caramel slices, Viennese fingers and whirls, individual bakewell tarts, and cookies that will be on sale, are being made by learners of the professional bakery courses. All proceeds go to the college’s charity Sports Relief.

The event is part of national Apprenticeship Week being marked across the UK from Monday 6 February 2012 to Friday 10 February 2012.

Also on Monday 6 February 2012 from 2pm to 6pm, Leicester College is hosting its Apprenticeship Careers Fair at Freemen’s Park Campus at which more than 100 vacancies are being recruited for.

The fair is supported by Jobcentre Plus, the National Apprenticeship Service and Connexions whose advisors will be on hand to provide advice and guidance to potential apprentices.

Leicester College has established itself as a leading provider of bakery-related vocational qualifications and work-based programmes.

The college will now take the lead in working with bakery industry groups to ensure Academy training provision continues to meet changing business needs in bread, cake, confectionary and pastry production.

The National Skills Academy was set up in 2007 by Improve, the skills council for the UK’s food and drink manufacturing industries, to provide businesses with easy access to professional food and drink industry training of the highest quality.

The Academy now includes more than 70 accredited training companies and colleges with specific networks for industry sub sectors such as bakery, meat & poultry, seafood and dairy.

“Leicester College had been an Academy member for several years and we have total confidence in the College’s ability to collaborate with both employers and fellow bakery training network members to underline the continuing authority of our skills solutions,” said Justine Fosh, Director of the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink.

Leicester College launched work-based training services for the food and drink industry in 1997 and has since established itself as a leading provider of bakery-related vocational qualifications and work-based programmes both inside and beyond the East Midlands having installed a full food-manufacturing suite.

“We have the capability to design bespoke bakery industry courses and our facilities are able to reproduce specific skill sessions for the bakery industry,” said Leicester College business delivery manager David Thomas.

“Our links with both large and small companies in the East Midlands are good and college based learners are encouraged to take part in national competitions and join bakery societies such as the Alliance of Bakery Students and Trainees to help them develop their own contacts through networking.”

A variety of vacancies will be unveiled at the Apprenticeship Careers Fair by employers across Leicestershire

These will be offered by employers across Leicester and Leicestershire who will be exhibiting at the Careers Fair plus the college’s in-house Apprentice Training Agency (ATA).

Advisors from the ATA will be on hand to provide guidance and advice on how to find an employer or a suitable apprenticeship vacancy, how to apply for vacancies and prepare for that crucial job interview.

The event will also offer the chance to view some of the College’s excellent training facilities and to talk with experienced staff from Leicester College and representatives from Jobcentre Plus, the National Apprenticeship Service and Connexions.

For those who are uncertain about what career path to pursue, careers advisors will be on hand to help.

“We don’t want anyone to lose out on an education or advancement in their career because of lack of information or because they think training or even a certain type of career is not for them.  I would encourage anyone who has questions or doubts or who just wants to see what kinds of careers might be open to them, to come and speak with our experienced staff,” said Principal Maggie Galliers.

Leicester College has successfully placed apprentices in hundreds of jobs in business, construction, engineering, fashion, hair dressing, hospitality, sports, retail, professional cookery, food manufacturing and catering among others.

The fair is free to attend however registration is highly recommended. Registration can be done online or via phone on 0116 224 2240.

However, there may be many more who remain uncertain or have unanswered questions about potential career paths.

Leicester College is providing the opportunity to have these questions answered at its Apprenticeship Careers Fair on Monday 6 February from 2pm to 6pm at Freemen’s Park Campus.

Guidance on how to find an employer or a suitable apprenticeship vacancy and free advice on how to apply for these vacancies and prepare for that crucial job interview will be available at the fair.

The event will also offer the chance to view some of the College’s excellent training facilities and to talk with experienced staff from Leicester College and representatives from Jobcentre Plus, the National Apprenticeship Service and Connexions.

“We don’t want anyone to lose out on an education or advancement in their career because of lack of information or because they think training or even a certain type of career is not for them.  I would encourage anyone who has questions or doubts or who just wants to see what kinds of careers might be open to them, to come and speak with our experienced staff,” said Principal Maggie Galliers.

Leicester College has successfully placed apprentices in hundreds of jobs in business, construction, engineering, fashion, hair dressing, hospitality, sports, retail, professional cookery, food manufacturing and catering among others.

The fair is free to attend. Please telephone 0116 224 2240 or visit www.leicestercollege.ac.uk/careers-fair to register.

At age 10, Ruth was sent to England as part of the Kindertransport, one of the few routes to safety and survival for children who lost their parents in the Holocaust.

Diversity Manager, Ruth Pickersgill, said: “We’re extremely pleased to have Ruth David with us on this important day when we recall the atrocities of the Holocaust so that our younger generations can ‘look’ through the eyes of Ruth and appreciate the unimaginable pain suffered by her and other child survivors in the hope that our future generations would never ever allow even a shadow of this to happen again.”

In addition to Ruth’s presentation, other activities to mark the day include:

• ‘Speak Up Speak Out’ Exhibition, Monday 23 January 2012 to Friday 27 January 2012 at Abbey park Campus, St Margaret’s Campus and Freemen’s Park Campus;
• Film: ‘The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas’, Thursday 26 January 2012 at 4pm in the Abbey Park Campus Social Space;
• ‘Speak Up, Speak Out’ Pledge by the Student Union on Thursday 26 January and Friday 27 January from 12noon to 2pm at each campus.

Desserts specially made by learners of the catering course will be sold in Leicester Market. Proceeds go to charity.

Apprenticeship Careers Fair

On Monday 6 February 2012 from 2pm to 6pm Leicester College will host an Apprenticeship Careers Fair at Freemen’s Park Campus supported by Jobcentre Plus, the National Apprenticeship Service and Connexions.

At the fair, the public can learn about the range of apprenticeships on offer and how to apply. Careers advisors will be available to answer questions and provide guidance.

Local businesses have been invited to use this opportunity to exhibit their own apprenticeship opportunities.

Workshops for potential apprentices

On Monday 6 February 2012, during the careers fair, there will be three workshops for job applicants on Interview Techniques, Completing Applications on the apprenticeship vacancy online website and the Role of Apprentices.

You’re Hired!

On Monday 6 February 2012 from 10:30am to 2pm, two groups of learners compete against each other selling cookies, cakes and pastries in Leicester Market, made by learners in the catering course. Styled after Lord Sugar’s BBC television programme,
The Apprentice, the teams face Principal Maggie Galliers in the Boardroom afterwards to learn who gets told: You’re Hired!

Taster Sessions for Schools

From Monday 6 February 2012 to Thursday 9 February 2012 schools from around Leicester and Leicestershire will be sending students to Leicester College’s three
campuses for taster sessions in a variety of apprenticeship routes including Beauty, Construction, Business Management, Floristry, Hairdressing, Hospitality and Food,
Motor Vehicle Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Sports, Travel, Marketing,
and Retail.

“We don’t want anyone to lose out on an education or advancement in their career because of lack of information or because they think training or even a certain type of career is not for them. I would encourage anyone who has questions or doubts or who just wants to see what kinds of careers might be open to them, to come and speak with our experienced staff at our Careers Fair,” said Principal Maggie Galliers.

The fair and workshops are open free of cost to the public who can register online at or by telephone on 0116 224 2240.

Curriculum Area Manager Yvette Sexton said there is training available to help all levels of businesses from Customer Service and Team Leading through to Leadership and Management.

“If you are unable to attend the event, call us for a free consultation. We can also arrange for a Training Consultant to come out and talk about all the options for your business,” said Sexton.

The evening will deliver taster sessions and expert advice on:

• Leadership and management styles;
• Managing conflict in your business;
• The benefits of recognising staff learning styles.

Leicester College has an excellent track record in delivering training to businesses and other organisations, offering nationally and internationally recognised qualifications as well as bespoke solutions which we can be delivered in the workplace.

The Open Evening will be held at Abbey Park Campus, Leicester and free parking is available on site.

Registration can be done either online or by phone on 0116 224 2240.