S KI L L S
David Hughes and Siobhan Fenton, from
Teesside University's School of Computing,
Engineering & Digital Technologies, with Steve
Jones and Alan Wardle from Siemens.
Growing the Tees
Valley’s skill base
Any ambitious business wishing to
expand must ensure that its staff
are equipped with the key skills
necessary for growth.
Sarah Collinson and
Allen Brindle from
digital design agency
Edward Robertson.
42 | Tees Business
A
core part of Teesside University’s mission is helping
to grow the economy of the Tees Valley and
beyond by working with partners in business to
make certain that the qualifications and courses it
delivers match the expectations of industry.
By adopting a flexible approach of working with partners
it has developed a range of options which meet the differing
needs of employers.
These vary from an established leadership development
course which upskills company owners and managers, to
collaborating with international technology companies to
ensure that Teesside University students graduate with the
most up-to-date, industry-relevant skills and are ready to
make an immediate impact in the workplace.
Continued success for leadership development
Managers and small business owners across the Tees Valley
are coming together to share their expertise, thanks to a new
initiative spun out of a successful leadership programme.
Teesside University has established a Leading Growth
Alumni network to bring together former participants in its
leadership and management programmes, for a bi-monthly
series of think-tanks, workshops and informal discussions.
More than 100 people from over 70 companies have been
through Leading Growth and Management Catalyst, both part
of a suite of Teesside University Business School leadership
programmes, run from the Centre for Professional and
Executive Development in Darlington.
Leading Growth is for owner-managers, while Management
Catalyst is aimed at aspiring managers.
The Leading Growth Alumni network will enable participants
to strengthen existing relationships as well as building new
ones with other business leaders.
Sessions will include coaching, presentation skills, finance
and futurism masterclasses.
Elaine Hooker, programme director, said: “Teesside
University has a powerful role to play in developing and
regenerating the area, and improving the leadership and
management of small businesses is really important.
“These skills are not always embedded in a business, so we
run these non-accredited courses to help people learn them
with a real focus on peer-to-peer learning.