Education Secretary Damian Hinds MP (pictured centre) met with employer and young apprenticeship ambassadors, and skills leaders today (March 22), on a visit to a D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership area engineering academy.
Mr Hinds visited the Uniper Engineering Academy in Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Notttinghamshire; the apprenticeships training facility for international energy company Uniper Technologies Ltd. There he met with Academy Head and Chair of the East Midlands Apprenticeship Ambassador Network, David Hughes; and spoke to engineering apprentices and trainers.
The Education Secretary then spoke to members of the East Midlands Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (EMAAN) – a group of regional employers which works to promote apprenticeships delivery in the East Midlands – and Young Apprentice Ambassadors, about the opportunities and challenges they face.
David Hughes, Head of the Uniper Engineering Academy, said: “I was delighted to welcome the Secretary of State to the Academy. The Academy team work really hard to deliver excellence in training and this really shone through today. I must also thank the East Midlands Apprentice Ambassadors and Young Apprentice Ambassadors for their support in making sure the round table discussion was a really positive and fruitful debate.’
The D2N2 LEP is an EMAAN member and Katrina Woodward, LEP Commissioning Manager for Skills and Employability, attended the round table discussion.
D2N2 is the private sector-led partnership of businesses, local authorities, skills and training providers, community and voluntary services and others which promotes economic and jobs growth across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
It invests heavily in its skills and training strategy, including promoting apprenticeships; to enable people to get the training to embark on fulfilling careers, and so that companies in the area can find the right skilled people to fill ‘skills gaps’ in their workforces.
Katrina added: “We appreciated the Education Secretary giving up his time to meet with us today. He said he was interested in hearing from those responsible for directly promoting apprenticeships, about any barriers they face, as well national policymakers.”
For further information on the skills and training strategy of the D2N2 LEP see its website at www.d2n2schools.co.uk/
More information on the work of the East Midlands Apprenticeship Ambassador Network can be found at www.bigassembly.org/about/about-emaan/
Media wanting further information about the D2N2 LEP can contact D2N2 Communications Manager Sean Kirby on 0115 957 8749 or email: sean.kirby@d2n2lep.org
