Skills and training, European funding and business growth were among the topics tackled by D2N2 experts, as they attended a wide range of events this week across the area.
Officers from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership – a partnership of business, local authorities, skills and training providers, and community organisations promoting economic growth across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – played an active part in a number of business events across the catchment this week, including:
- D2N2 Commissioning Manager for Skills and Employability, Katrina Woodward, was part of a Nottingham Post-hosted ‘round table’ discussion on creating closer links between employers and education providers, at the city’s St James’ Hotel in Nottingham. The D2N2 LEP’s work in this area includes launching a ‘Provider Charter’, last April, which aims to get employers more involved with creating training programmes which will teach the skills to fill gaps in their workforces. (More on D2N2 Skills can be found at web link d2n2skills.co.uk ).
- David Ralph, D2N2 Chief Executive, was a guest speaker at the Insider Media SME Growth Breakfast 2015 event, at the Radisson Blu Hotel, at East Midlands Airport.
The event was aimed at businesses re-examining their strategy for growth and how different aspects of their enterprise – such as marketing, IT and financing – fed into that.
D2N2 Growth Hub Co-Ordinator Manny Agalamanyi (Left)
Through funding initiatives such as Unlocking Investment for Growth, Growing Places and its six-year £214million European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) programme (announced in March), D2N2 is providing practical support in helping businesses grow.
- D2N2 Growth Hub service staff attended the ‘Marketing on a Shoestring’ business event at Glossop Municipal Buildings, Derbyshire, and a ‘Love Business’ event at the Village Hotel in Chilwell; to provide advice to businesses. The Growth Hub supports ambitious businesses to grow through free support and guidance, help in accessing finance and skills training. They can be contacted via website d2n2growthhub.co.uk , or through an advisor at 0333 006 9178 or email: info@d2n2growthhub.co.uk
- Richard Kirkland, ESIF Co-ordinator, was a speaker at the 2015 annual general meeting of The Derbyshire Network – which supports employers, learners and training providers in improving the quality of work-based learning programmes – held at The Derbyshire Hotel, South Normanton. Richard spoke about funding opportunities which will be made available through D2N2’s ESIF programme for projects tackling business development, skills and training, combatting social exclusion, low carbon technology development, helping people into employment and a range of other issues, between now and 2020. (More information is available on the ESIF programme at d2n2lep.org/EUFunding).
D2N2’s latest Annual Review – covering the 2014/15 period – was also published on Wednesday (June 24), in the business sections of both the Nottingham Post and the Derby Telegraph. It details its work on boosting the economy and creating jobs in its area, over the 12 month period.
Figures from the new Annual Review can be found online on the D2N2 website at www.d2n2lep.org/growth
For more information about the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership’s work see website www.d2n2lep.org
