Flexible, responsive, employer-led and successful: the future face of skills delivery

Today I went to an event to celebrate 18 months of trading for Trade Skills Academy (TSA) near Romford. This is a skills provider that I think really understands the importance of being flexible, and their results in getting participants into work is impressive.

TSA identify sectors in the local economy where there are job opportunities, then design short training courses which are run by time-served professionals. In Essex they run courses in telesales, car sales, plastering and plumbing.

TSA form links with local employers and offer them motivated applicants who are energised and highly motivated. Many of these candidates are unemployed at the point they join TSA. Participants can come back to TSA in the weeks after they leave to talk to a mentor, a job advisor, or even ask the plastering tutor how to tackle a job they have taken on. Many of the trades go into self employment.

For me, TSA is what you get when you don't start with an institution-based, academic year led programme. It is nimble, serves local employers, grows local talent, engages and skills people who are out of the job market and is genuinely flexible. Colleges need to see how they can adapt what is often a quite rigid skills model to compete with providers like TSA.

Welcome to Eastworks

Welcome to Eastworks. This blog is for anyone with an interest in community, employment, growth, skills and enterprise in the East of England.

There are around 120,000 people in the East of England who cannot access work. In a beautiful rural setting, with great wealth, there are places of real deprivation - places where people don't feel they have a chance to work, and engage in their community.

I work for a social purpose company, and I spend my time visiting outstanding organisations working with people across East Anglia, in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Beds and Herts.

I want to share the ideas of the companies and people I meet. We have a common interest - we want to make things better for all people in the East of England.

For unemployed people in Lowestoft, young people in Basildon who don't feel that they can engage in the job market, or people in rural Cambridgeshire who feel that they are too far from local services.

I want to share the ideas of the businesses I meet and see how we can bring these to life in the East of England and I want to know what you think.

So please comment, post, share - vent. Tell me what you, or your company or your community is doing that is making a difference. We may be able to work together.

East Anglia is a big, open place. Let's come together to share ideas on how to make our communities work for everyone.