Two important new training schemes are being delivered to boost the skillsets for people and businesses across the region.

Deloitte is working with Tees Valley Combined Authority and Teesside University to offer small and medium sized businesses in the region a free package of four masterclasses and up to four coaching sessions to boost business skills as part of the Skills for Growth* programme.

And The Driver Academy Group, has again been awarded the lead role on the Government’s extended Skills Bootcamps, targeting hundreds more HGV drivers across the North East over the coming year.

The Deloitte final programme starts on Thursday (sign up HERE) delivered live via Teams so that SME business owners can make the programme work around their working pattern.

One of the consultants delivering the programme is Natalie Hogg, a manager at Deloitte, who said: “The focus is on boosting leadership and management skills, and preparing businesses for the future. The masterclasses cover a wide range of business topics, and this is supplemented with one-to-one coaching sessions.

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Joely Clark, HR Advisor at Stockton-on-Tees based firm Cleveland Containers, is one participant who has already benefited. She said: “The masterclasses have been instrumental in my work to build the HR function at Cleveland Containers and my own personal development. The facilitators were inspiring, using a blend of academic theory and real-life business examples. I would always come away with new knowledge I could embed and share with my organisation.”

Stephen Hall, office senior partner at Deloitte in the North East, added: “With this programme we are helping local SMEs drive their businesses forward. It’s unusual for this type of learning and coaching to be so easily accessible and free so I’d encourage interested businesses to apply. This collaboration with the TVCA and the university is making an impact that matters in our local business community which is something, as a firm, we are passionate about.”

The courses from the Driver Academy Group, a consortium led by HGV training specialist HGVC, and comprising workforce solutions group Manpower and trade body Logistics UK, are available at dozens of locations in the region. 

They are flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills. First launched in December 2021, the programme has been extended for a further 12 months until 31 March 2024.

DAG has been awarded a full extension of its original contract with the Department for Education (DfE), with scope for further expansion if capacity allows. This translates to training at least a further 2,160 individuals over the next 12 months and creating almost 2,000 new drivers in the logistics sector.

Within the new contract, DAG will deliver 1,300 partially funded courses. These offer employers a 70% contribution to HGV driver training through the DfE funding. In addition, HGVC will deliver 860 fully funded courses, aimed at individual candidates.

Since the launch of the Skills Bootcamps in HGV Driving in December 2021, the DAG has trained around 1,400 drivers. Some 1,070 trainees have now passed their practical test and are ready to drive. In addition, 535 drivers are now in jobs and a further 400 have secured interviews.

 

The extended Skills Bootcamps in HGV Driving went  live a few days ago. DAG’s scheme is open to any individual holding a driver’s licence for over three years or businesses looking to upskill their existing staff.

The training courses are available at 60 locations across the country and candidates and businesses can apply at www.hgv.academy. 

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James Clifford, CEO of HGVC, said: “While the immediate short-term driver shortage has abated, the long-term chronic shortage persists. As we’ve seen, thousands of people in the UK want to become lorry drivers. With further funding, we’re confident we can train even more people in the UK, close the longer-term shortfall of drivers and keep Britain moving.

Companies looking to upskill existing drivers can also apply for Government funding of 70% of the scheme’s cost. 

The Skills Bootcamps are part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee, helping everyone gain skills for life. The scheme is funded by the Department for Education, which completed a competitive tender process to appoint training providers.