Bid to boost business for manufacturers

Launched for food and drink manufacturers, the Greater Manchester Skills Gateway hopes to boost the economy and improve companies’ use of training to achieve growth, raise productivity and improve staff retention.

Greater Manchester, UK, is the first region to use European funding (through the European Social Funding Skills Support for the Workforce programme) to develop a new, free skills service for manufacturers.

According to research by the Food and Drink Federation, the food and drink manufacturing industry is the single largest manufacturing sector in the UK, with a turnover of £92 billion. The Skills Gateway promises to build on the sector’s success by giving businesses complimentary access to a pool of more than 250 training providers.

Angie Took, operations manager of Skills Gateway, says, “Businesses’ experience of training is mixed, with a dizzying array of providers, funding opportunities and qualifications. Trying to pick the ideal solution for your company can be time consuming and confusing and, as a result, far too many organisations fail to use training effectively.

“Our service will put that right for manufacturers. It will help organisations and employees to achieve their full potential by simplifying the process of sourcing appropriate and beneficial training.”

Businesses using the service will be provided with a shortlist of training providers that best match a wide range of criteria suiting their sector, needs and objectives, as well as advice on how to use training to develop their business and access to any potential funding for training.

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