Building the future workforce: national provider creates local solutions

National employment and skills specialist Seetec is pioneering local solutions to meeting regional skills needs.

While Seetec brings sector expertise and experience of developing targeted skills programmes, it is building vital partnerships with specialists in priority sectors across the UK and Ireland to create local solutions.

This collaborative approach recognises that creating diverse supply chains taps into the specialist knowledge and expertise of smaller skills providers to provide the best solution for employees, employers and their communities.

Executive Director of Employability, Chris Harrison, explains:

“Seetec’s approach is to create strong supply chains that complement our sector expertise and experience as a prime contractor with the diversity and deep local expertise of partners. This ensures we can offer the best possible solution for citizens, their families and communities.”

With employment rates remaining high, the focus is increasingly on smaller priority groups and localised needs. Over the last five years, Seetec has delivered high-quality services with 75 expert local providers embedded in its supply chains. These range from a small number of select local partners to fully subcontracted European Social Fund delivery.

Seetec’s collaboration with the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and delivery partners in Norfolk and Suffolk was the focus of a breakout session on collaborative working in devolved areas at the Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) annual conference in London on 5 December.

Chantel Hampton, Seetec’s ESF Contract Manager, who addressed the session, said:

“Working in partnership with specialist skills providers in key areas such as social care and construction has enabled us to build our delivery models collaboratively to meet the local skills needs of the different businesses and their employees.”

“This supply chain diversity increases the talent and knowledge on offer and stimulates greater innovation and learning.”

The Skills Support for the Workforce programme in Norfolk and Suffolk is aligned to the LEP’s priority sectors and has helped to drive growth, development and productivity in the regional economy. Running since October 2016 with Seetec as the prime contractor, it’s aim is to up-skill the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) workforce through short, sharp interventions offering a diverse range of regulated and non-regulated qualifications.

Through the programme, more than 700 businesses across Suffolk and Norfolk have boosted the skills of their workforce.

Read more from Chris Harrison about The Power of Collaboration.