HMA Resourcing and Skills

TACKLING THE SKILLS SHORTAGE

"Resourcing and Skills in Cambridgeshire"

Join the HMA team and our very special guest, Simon Weston OBE, at the WATA training facility on Wednesday 15th July 2015. Simon is a strong believer in seeing the skills and expertise of ex-military personnel making the transition to the world of civilian Employment.  We are also very lucky to have Julia Chippendale, the Managing Director of EAL Awards joining us to discuss improvements in skills qualifications

Huntingdonshire Manufacturers Association (HMA) events are different in that they are devised and promoted by a committee of passionate and committed local manufacturing based business people. AND they are entirely FREE.

Click to Download Event Flyer

Click to reserve a place at the event

Click to complete the skills and resourcing questionnaire 

We have always designed events to have a quality of subject matter that you wont find elsewhere. Like you, we value time and know that there are only so many events we can attend each month!

A consistent conversation topic being discussed by Huntingdonshire businesses like yours is the lack of skills and resources in our region. So where do you find staff with the the skills needed to reinforce and grow a business? Its becoming harder and harder ! How do our neighbouring counties acheive this and how can we improve ....

THE AGENDA

1400  The skills and resourcing needs of local manufacturers panel discussion

1430  Breakout session to introduce the Skills and Resourcing questionnaire and capturing our local needs

1500  Recruitment of Ex-Forces Personnel

Simon Weston OBE

Managing |Director at Weston Security Ltd

Non-Executive Director Anatech

1530 EDGE Sharper Skills for Enterprise

Julie Drummond

Economic Development Officer

Huntingdonshire District Council

1600  The LEP approach to Skills and Resourcing

Mark Cooper

Skills and Business Growth Lead

Greater Cambridgeshire/ Greater Peterborough LEP

1630  Improvements in Skills Qualifications

Julia Chippendale

Managing Director

EAL Awards

1700  Panel discussion followed by a tour of WATA

Chaired by

Nigel Donohue

Managing Director

West Anglia Training Association

HBN People event

As a CEO the most important assets in your business are your people.  In this important seminar three leading local HR specialists will cover 4 of the top HR issues facing any business owner.

• How to find and recruit the top talent that you will need to grow your business
• Obtain a far better understanding of Pension Auto-Enrolment and how it will affect your business
• Understand how current and upcoming employment law changes will affect you business
• Learn some simple tools to enable your people to be more productive in the workplace

 

Our three top HR specialists are: 

Dawn Cross                    HR Consultant, Face2FaceHR 

Lorraine Dyer                  Freelance HR Director in the Hospitality Industry

Karen Williams               KJ HR Consulting

The event will run from 1230-1500  and HBN will provide a sandwich buffet.  Tickets are £5.00 if booked on-line prior to the event or £10.00 on the door

TO BOOK

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/people-your-companies-most-important-resource-tickets-16545453898

New HBN Banner is ready

HUNTINGDONSHIRE BUSINESS NETWORK BANNER

A brand new HBN banner has been designed and produced and will be on public display for the first time at the Huntingdonshire Business Fair #HBF2015 on Thursday 23rd April. The banner was designed by +Jane Thomas of Milton Contact and printed and fitted by Carli and her team at Borney. 

+Richard Wishart +Annette Williams and +Luana Mattey will be representing HBN at a pre-event marketing seminar for stand holders this afternoon.  We are looking forward to a good "Open Networking" event

If you are at the event - please drop by at the HBN Stand and say hello - It will be good to meet local businesses and friends of HBN next Thursday

#HBNevent

HBN makeover

Makeover for the Huntingdonshire Business Network Brand

HBN has just re-branded with a new Banner and Business Card design.  Jane Thomas from Milton Contact Ltd worked on the branding which I think is fantastic.

The brand is designed to emphasise the groups Social Media interests which are being refreshed and reinvigorated as well

The new branding will go on show for the first time at the Huntingdonshire Business fair #HBF15 on the 23rd April 

Written by Richard Wishart

Chairman of Huntingdonshire Business Network

30th March 2015

#HBNCambs 

HBF2015

HUNTINGDONSHIRE BUSINESS NETWORK WILL BE AT HBF 2015

Huntingdonshire Business Network HBN will be at the Huntingdonshire Business Fair at Woodgreen on 23rd April 2015

Our stand is booked and our new banners are designed - it should be a really good event.  HBN has been a regular attendee at the HBF events and will be tweeting on #HBF2015 and #HBNCambs

We look forward to seeing you at the event

http://www.meetup.com/Huntingdonshire-Business-Network/events/218841699/

Maths and English Skills

What maths and English skills do employers want and learners need for an effective UK Workforce in 2015?

Views are being sought from employers, colleges and learners

Mira Training Solutions is undertaking research on behalf of City & Guilds and are particularly interested in hearing from employers of apprentices between the ages of 16 and 25 in the sectors of Automotive, Engineering, Health and Social Care, Hospitality, Public Sector and Retail although the invitation is extended to all sectors.

The purpose of the project is to review the maths and English skills young employees need in order to be successful at work. We want to determine exactly what skills are important to employers and how best young people should develop these for mutual benefit.  Please see the attached flyer containing some background information on the project.

This is a key piece of research for City and Guilds and the results will have national exposure as well as helping drive the design of C&G's maths and English qualifications.

The voice of the employers is one very important element of the research. We're holding a series of focus groups for employers and learners across the country and would like to hear your views.

We invite you to join the Cambridge-based focus group for a short breakfast meeting with coffee and croissants on:

Tuesday, 24th March - 8am to 9.30am at St John's Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 OWS (free parking on site)

I do hope you'll be able to take this opportunity to contribute to the debate about the changing nature of the essential skills needed by young employees in your organisation.

Please click here to register your attendance/interest in being contacted.  Alternatively call either Angela on 01223 501405 or Trevor Weston on 07850 632280.

Kind regards

Angela Jervis

Associate - Mira Training Solutions

St John's Innovation Centre

Cowley Road

Cambridge CB4 0WS

T: 01223 501405 OR

Trevor Weston on

T: 07850 632280

www.miratraining.co.uk

 Find us on...

      

"Superfast Broadband" Grants for Huntingdonshire

Grants for superfast broadband now available to Huntingdonshire businesses

A government scheme to help small and medium businesses in Huntingdonshire to install superfast broadband has been announced today.

Connection vouchers provide grants of between £100 - £3000 to install superfast broadband to business buildings. The funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis until March 2016.

The scheme is run by Connecting Cambridgeshire (a partnership of local authorities) and funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

The vouchers pay for the one-off cost of installing superfast broadband to offices, which can be expensive and prevent businesses from getting better connectivity.

Huntingdonshire has over 9000 businesses that could benefit from the funding. Charities and social enterprises are also eligible. Groups of businesses can apply together for connection vouchers and pool the funding together. This enables a whole office block or business park to be upgraded to superfast broadband.

Connection vouchers were previously only available to Cambridge and the surrounding area, but Connecting Cambridgeshire has been able to work with government to extend it across other districts.

Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey said: "This is fantastic news for Huntingdonshire businesses, and I'd encourage any firm that's struggling with slow internet speeds to apply for a voucher immediately. Across the UK, thousands of businesses have already taken up the vouchers and I'm delighted that the scheme has now been extended to include Huntingdonshire as well. "

Councillor Mathew Shuter, Business Champion at Cambridgeshire County Council said:  “Superfast broadband is vital for all businesses and our local economy. I am delighted that we can now offer the scheme to businesses across the county to ensure that they can grow and compete in an increasingly digital world.”

Councillor Jason Ablewhite, Executive Leader of Huntingdonshire District Council, said: “The extension of eligibility for these grants to include Huntingdonshire is most welcome news. I urge all our local businesses to make the most of this opportunity to reduce the cost of connecting to superfast broadband.”

Through Connecting Cambridgeshire’s business support project, Destination Digital, it has helped over 700 businesses across Cambridgeshire to use digital technology.

Businesses can find out more about connection vouchers and apply online on the Destination Digital website: www.destinationdigital.info

RICHARD WISHART'S VIEW

Bringing Huntingdonshire companies into a scheme that has been available in other parts of Cambridgeshire for a very long time is very good news.  The shame is that it has taken so long !!  I would like to know more about the Ultra Fast trial that is planned for Huntingdon and how this scheme would apply.

I would like to know exactly the amount of funding being made available to Huntingdonshire companies through this scheme - The Destination Digital scheme quickly ran out of money and it would be good to know the overall size of the budget?

Another concern is that Broadband is normally purchased as a monthly recurring charge - how can a capital grant be used to pay for a recurring cost ?

Happy to help any Huntingdonshire businesses with their bids. We should be looking for collaborative 1Gbps solutions like they currently have in Peterborough funded by connection vouchers