Bristol West of England Initiative talks youth opportunities at the South Bristol Skills Academy

Author
James Cortis
Content Producer | Business West
15th March 2022

Gathered in the South Bristol Skills Academy’s landmark auditorium – featuring a four storey wall of glass – the Bristol & West of England Initiative met to discuss skills and young people.

Jaya Chakrabarti MBE, President of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce and Initiative, opened proceedings with comments on the skills shortage, the upcoming local mayoral referendum and the escalating crisis in Ukraine. 

Jaya called on members to pull together and help bring about peace in any way they are able. She also highlighted that Chamber Customs will be offering free export declarations for businesses sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine and that the British Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce has requested equipment and assistance. 

On the forthcoming referendum in Bristol on whether the Mayoral Model is retained and how the city and city council is run, Jaya said that businesses “shares some responsibility to ensure that our citizens understand the choices in front of them.” The vote, scheduled for 5 May 2022, will decide whether Bristol continues with an elected mayor or transitions back to a committee model which operated in Bristol until 2000. 

Richard Harris, Chief Executive and Principal of the City of Bristol College, next took to the podium where he gave a short overview of the skills landscape nationally and also championed the South Bristol Skills Academy and its close ties with local businesses. 

“We’re undergoing major reforms and reviews in this country that put employers increasingly in the driver's seat, allowing them to shape what skills delivery and training should look like,” he said. 

“Every day, young people here gain critical skills across sustainable construction and engineering, convergent technologies, retrofitting, health and social care and creative and digital – a sector that’s hugely important to our city and where we have some fantastic employer links.”

This strategy forms part of the government’s Levelling Up White Paper which seeks to dramatically increase the number of young people gaining high quality and highly valued skills.  

“Between us, we can drive economic growth and shared prosperity across our region for the benefit of our citizens. Business West as one of the government's local Skills Improvement Plans has an important role to play," said Richard. 

James Durie, Chief Executive of the Chamber and Initiative at Business West, next touched on the themes of clean and inclusive growth, transport and connectivity, decarbonisation and skills. 

He highlighted the government’s recent decision to give the go ahead to the growth of Bristol Airport and emphasised that the Initiative & Business West is focused on encouraging airports and the aviation sector to decarbonize as far and fast as they can. 

James also covered ShareBike’s collaboration with the Big Issue to bring initially 500 E-bikes to the streets of Bristol, with more to come if the scheme builds patronage.

“We are partnering with the Big Issue and ShareBike to encourage our members to start using it,” said James. “We have high hopes that it will help to clean up our streets, decarbonise and improve the way we can all move around.”

Delegates next heard from Poku Osei, Chief Executive of Babbasa, which was established to help under-represented young people in Bristol to pursue their ambitions through skills training, professional mentoring, events and recruitment support services. 

Although Bristol’s economy has grown faster over the past 10 years than any other city in the UK outside of London, not all Bristolians share in this success. 

The city is ranked as 7th worst of 348 districts in England & Wales for black and ethnic minority communities to live and thrive, with equality gaps failing to improve since 2001.

“The big vision is that if we work together – corporate sector, public sector and non-profit sector – we will be able to support at least one person from each inner-city household to achieve a median salary by 2030,” said Poku.

“If we succeed, we won’t only have lifted individuals out of poverty, but we’ll also have enabled individuals to support their families, act as role models within the local community and contribute to the wider local economy through our tax system.”

Lizzie Lyons from the People and Skills department at Business West next gave an update on the skills support available to businesses locally, emphasising the success of programmes such as Kickstart. 

Business West continues to operate as a gateway to the Kickstart programme, helping businesses to submit applications and navigate what can be a complex process. Workforce for the Future is also helping businesses to attract and retain talent, working with 160 SMEs to establish internships, apprenticeships and work placements. 

Finally, James Durie and Jaya Chakrabarti awarded a token of gratitude to town and city planning veteran, Peter Floyd, for his ‘constant positive force and helpfulness around planning, transport and energy’.

“We rely on people committing a lot of time and energy – with both heart and head – and we’d like to extend a special thanks to Peter,” said James. 

In a short acceptance speech, Peter added; “business is continuous – it hasn’t got a short-term timeline like politics – and if it keeps the pressure up, eventually the city has to listen.

“You’ve got to do that because no one else is going to, so keep it up chaps and ladies.”

The next face to face Initiative meeting will be held at Bristol Zoo in June, a save the date will be circulated shortly. 

 

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