Serco selected to deliver skills programme to support SMEs in Gloucestershire

Serco’s Employment, Skills & Enterprise business has been selected by the Skills Funding Agency to deliver two new Skills Support for the Workforce (SSW) contracts, providing training, to help upskill the workforce of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Gloucestershire.

Under the 18-month programme, Serco will work in partnership with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to support growth by providing basic skills training including literacy and numeracy, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), employment skills such as communication and team working, and vocationally specific qualifications.

Intermediate and Higher level skills training including IT, leadership and management training, as well as vocationally-relevant courses will also be available, targeting areas of improvement relating to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), or Low Carbon.

The overall focus is to help support growth in the following priority areas, helping to boost the wider, regional economy in Gloucestershire:

For STEM-related skills:

• Knowledge Intensive Manufacturing Sector

• Knowledge Intensive Service Sector

• Construction

• Health & Social Care

• Retail

• Creative

• Visitor Economy

For Low Carbon skills:

• Low Carbon

• Engineering

• Construction

As part of the SSW programme, co-funded by the European Social Fund and the Skills Funding Agency, Serco will work with a number of expert training providers to offer recognised accredited qualifications and bespoke training courses aiming to enhance employees’ skills, increase the competitiveness of local businesses and boost the local economy.

Through SSW, eligible businesses can benefit from fully funded training, tailored to their specific needs. Fully-flexible training takes place at employees’ workplace and businesses can select full qualifications or mix and match individual units that are directly relevant to their work. Previous SSW programme participants have benefited from increased employee confidence, motivation and productivity and improved employee loyalty and retention.

Gareth Moss, Serco’s Director for Employment, Skills and Enterprise, said:

“I am delighted that Serco has been selected by the Skills Funding Agency to manage the SSW programme in Gloucestershire, in partnership with the LEP. We have delivered the previous phase of this programme in Gloucestershire, and are grateful that the SFA has trusted us to continue supporting local businesses to grow through upskilling their workforce.

“So far we have supported over 1,500 businesses with training for their workforce and over 6,000 employees have benefited from our service in Gloucestershire and other areas, and we’re looking forward to working with Gloucestershire’s LEP (GFirst) and our providers to enable many more to take advantage of this brilliant opportunity.”

Pete Carr, Deputy Chief Executive of GFirst LEP, said:

“Skills development is hugely important for the county, and we’re pleased to be working with Serco to ensure that the Low Carbon sector has the skills needed to meet business demand, and that those seeking careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) careers are supported effectively. The funding represents a fantastic opportunity to help meet the current and future workforce requirement in Gloucestershire.”

Serco is also delivering the SSW programme in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Heart of the South West (Devon and Somerset), Dorset, Swindon and Wiltshire, South East Midlands, Coventry and Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Stoke and Staffordshire.

Businesses can contact Serco on skillssupport@serco.com for more details and to find out if they are eligible for funded training through Skills Support for the Workforce.