FEATURE
Partnership – Middlesbrough College Group ’ s Matt Telling , Thirteen ’ s Becky Fisher , Northern Skills head of business development Peter Donnelly and Thirteen ’ s senior learning and organisational development advisor Rachel Summerhill .
Building homes and careers
Northern Skills ’ partnership with Thirteen shows importance of training and apprenticeships
Building the right skills in a workforce is one of the most important ingredients for a business ’ s success . And Middlesbrough College Group ’ s apprenticeship and training arm , Northern Skills , is the delivery partner of choice for employers across the region looking to build a pipeline of future talent .
Housing association and developer Thirteen Group recently partnered with Northern Skills to take its apprenticeship scheme to the next level .
The new partnership will see scores of young people build their dream career with the housing giant , which manages more than 35,000 homes in the North- East and Yorkshire .
With the support of expert tutors at Middlesbrough College and sister company TTE , Northern Skills will deliver training to 30 new apprentices in technical areas , as well as in housing , customer services and back-office functions .
Becky Fisher , learning and development service manager at Thirteen Group , said : “ Apprentices have always played a fundamental role in our business , and we see real value in investing in our programme .
“ We have some great success stories from our apprentices at Thirteen and we hope to build on this through our partnership with Northern Skills .
“ We knew about Northern Skills ’ reputation in the region and its extensive apprenticeship offering , so we enlisted its help to support our programme and safeguard the skills our business needs .”
All Northern Skills programmes are carried out in the workplace , meaning learners get proper hands-on experience , as well as online and in the specialist industry-leading training environments at Middlesbrough College – including its £ 20m STEM Centre and TTE ’ s world-class facilities .
Matt Telling is group director of business engagement and partnerships at Middlesbrough College Group , responsible for helping employers and students take advantage of the opportunities available in the region .
Matt said : “ Employers across the region come to us for apprentices who are workplace-ready and can hit the ground running .
“ This type of skill building – from the ground up – can really benefit businesses like Thirteen as it adapts training to the needs of the business and builds loyalty among young staff .
“ Once its next cohort have begun their apprenticeships , our team of assessors and regional managers work in conjunction with managers to ensure their success .
“ Apprentices are adaptive and responsive , soak up information like sponges and quickly become ingrained in a company ’ s culture .
“ And the model works – you only need to look at the number of employers we work with who are led by former Middlesbrough College Group apprentices to see its impact .
“ We can ’ t wait to see Thirteen ’ s apprenticeship scheme go from success to success and we ’ ll be there to support them every step of the way .”
Northern Skills works with more than 1,500 employers in the North-East and Yorkshire to deliver more than 100 types of programmes .
With strong industry links , its experienced team has trained more than 2,200 apprentices , putting the college in a strong position to help shape the economic landscape of the region .
Middlesbrough College delivers more than 100 courses to thousands of learners every year across all levels through Northern Skills and sister operation TTE , which supports local and international students ’ journeys in the oil and gas , process , manufacturing and engineering sectors .
Matt is keen to meet businesses and employers across the region to understand their needs and how Middlesbrough College Group and Northern Skills can offer support . For an informal chat , contact Matt on 01642 333902 or at MJ . Telling @ mbro . ac . uk .
The voice of business in the Tees region | 135