Two South Humber Bank sixth forms have pooled their resources in an effort to block the brain drain and retain talent in northern Lincolnshire.
Grimsby’s Franklin College and Scunthorpe’s John Leggott College have united to bring forward a Centre for Professional Development, with the aim of significantly increasing employer engagement as it seeks to ensure those striving for top careers realise the opportunities on their doorsteps.
Businesses in law, accountancy and IT joined the health and civic partners as the venture was unveiled.
Peter Kennedy, principal at host venue Franklin, said: “Between us 1,200 people leave our institutions each year and too many of them don’t know what’s available in this area.
“We want to use this as a vehicle to inform them and nurture them. We want people to see there is something for them.”
He said that while there was a major focus in the region on engineers, skills across the board were needed to create a balanced community. “It will not be achieved by just focusing on engineer and technicians,” he said.
Ways to engage were highlighted, including mentoring, visits, internships, work experience, masterclasses, and mock interviews.
Leon Riley, who heads up John Leggott, said: “There is a solution on the doorstep for the skills shortages. Most of these students in our institutions won’t come back to northern Lincolnshire, yet we will have 120 medics or nurses, 100 engineers, 250 business and management degree students, and I can go on an on.
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“We recognise students are not the finished product, but we can be developing and shaping soft skills and bonds can be built with them.”
Interview space, human resources support and the “critical mass waiting to be tapped into” in terms of a talent pool is being highlighted to businesses when it comes to getting on board.
Karen Linton, assistant director for skills at North East Lincolnshire Council, said there were strong reasons to stay when it came to the make-up of the economy. She highlighted the 海角视频’s largest port, a £2.5 billion food industry, the huge process industry, a thriving visitor economy and Grimsby’s role as the 海角视频 centre for offshore wind operations and maintenance.
“There are some great opportunities and more to come,” she said. “We have the ambition to create more jobs and new homes and we know the knock-on effect if we can convince more people to stay in the area.
“It is the added benefit, they are going to live in the area and spend money in the area, making it an even greater place.
In North East Lincolnshire alone, latest figures showed that 85 per cent of 16-year-olds continued education – 1,279 of the 1,679 leaving Year 11 in 2018. A total of 1,202 went to either Franklin or Grimsby Institute.
“This is our pipeline,” she said. “We need to do some work in enabling them to understand there is a future here for them. “This is about greater integrations between business and education, about that pathway and raising awareness of the opportunities that are either here or going to be here.”
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Businesses keen to support can register interest by emailling professionals@franklin.ac.uk
Employer empowerment
Forrester Boyd, a top 50 海角视频 accountancy practice headquartered in Grimsby, was held up as an exemplar business that has developed a strong relationship with Franklin as it looks to increase participation in the Centre for Professional Development.
More than 30 employees are former students, with many joining and qualifying in-house.
Manager Carrie Jensen, a former student, said: “We are very much a training firm, taking on several A-level students every year to then take them on a journey to be fully qualified accountants. We work with Franklin very closely, and that engagement is a real opportunity for us.”
Also returning to the Chelmsford Avenue college was colleague Alex Sawden who has qualified as a chartered accountant and now returns as a mentor. He told how he was delighted to stay in the area he calls home, and recognised the investment on going “as reported in the paper every week”. He said: “Half an hour of our time is such a big deal to the students. They are small steps, giving a bit of direction, but it makes a massive difference.”
On the health side, Prof Toby Wilkinson, University of Lincoln’s deputy vice chancellor, enthused about the first cohort of 98 students at the new medical school. “All the evidence shows doctors stay and work where they trained,” he said. “We were the biggest county in England without our own medical school.”
Rachel Maguire, head of people development at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust told how 191 junior doctors and 95 allied health professionals were recruited last year. “Jobs are there and we have to support our young people to make sure they stay or come back to us,” she said.
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