Plans for major new training facility to kickstart jobs market in Thornton

A £40,000 grant is to be made available by Wyre Council to help set up a training facility at Thornton to tackle a worrying skills gap in the area.

The facility will help train people up in the skills necessary to fill vacant positions within companies on the Hillhouse Enterprise Zone estate, where firms were found to be competing with each other for the same small pool of trained applicants.

Now the money will be freed up from the Hillhouse Enterprise Zone Business Rates Growth Reserve to develop proposals for the training centre.

The decision was made at Cabinet level after a report was presented by portfolio holders Cllr Peter Le Marinel (Planning Policy and Economic Development Portfolio Holder) Cllr Lesley McKay, (Resources Portfolio Holder) and Sarah Palmer (Director of Transformation and Change).

Their report recommended the award of grant to the Addison Academy, an accredited learning and staff training facility based at Hillhouse.

At the Cabinet meeting, Cllr McKay highlighted the ongoing skills shortages and emphasised the importance of ensuring residents had the best possible opportunities.

Cllr Le Marinel drew attention to the growing difficulty organisations faced as they competed for the same staff, which was pushing costs higher.

He said delivering a training centre via Addison Academy as soon as possible was the most effective idea.

The Academy, a sister company to the local, family-owned Addison Group of engineering and project management companies, offers hundreds of accredited and certified online training courses to provide skills needed in today’s workplace.

The grant funding agreement with Addison Academy will allow the commission of independent professional services to develop proposals for the training centre, which could entail a new building being created for the purpose, on the Hillhouse estate.

After the meeting, Cllr Le Marinel said: “There are just not enough people with the training and skills needed for the various companies on the Hillhouse estate, so it was agreed to try and do something about that.

“We have a situation at the moment which sees all these companies chasing the same employees and practically pinching each other’s staff, bidding against each other and pushing the costs up.

“There is a training organisation on site so it made sense to utilise them to help set this up. There would be jobs in engineering and all the other types of roles available on the estate.

“It will be good for the local area to offer training matched to actual jobs available locally, good for the companies and good for the Hillhouse Enterprise Zone overall.”

The funds allocated will help set up a consultation process and feasibility study into the project.