Ploughing much needed investment into Kent, skills training provider, uke learning launched its new office in Sittingbourne on 23 January 2009, with a warm welcome from local MP Derek Wyatt. “Training has rarely been as important as it is now,” he said. “Many Kent residents who have lost their jobs in recent months may see this as an opportunity to change career; but, clearly, they will need training. uke learning’s ability to help employers to identify funding for this will be essential to the county’s eventual economic recovery. Seeing uke learning invest in Kent now shows real commitment, and is a positive sign when there are all too few at the moment.”
Kent has been hard hit by the credit crunch to date, unemployment rising across the county by 11.9% in December alone. Swale District, in which Sittingbourne is located, registered an additional 296 unemployed in December 2008, the second highest rise in the county for the month. Yet against this backdrop uke learning has chosen Sittingbourne as key to its expansion into the South East, and the first step in an ambitious expansion plan which will quadruple the size of the company by August.
Director Mick Durham explained why uke learning is bucking the national trend, “It is vital that the UK doesn’t lose sight of the importance of training and adequate skills levels during the downturn,” he said. “Clearly, the Government has recognised this, and that’s why it has provided additional funding, which wise employers should be applying for now. Survival during this recession will, in part, depend on excellence; and having a well trained, more highly skilled workforce will undoubtedly be a competitive advantage. Many companies have laid off staff, and the resulting leaner organisations will also need to ensure that the employees who remain have a broader skills base to cover the roles vacated by former colleagues.
We aim to ensure that training in this region is of the highest possible calibre, by making uke learning courses more widely available.”
Against an industry average of around 20% completion rate, uke learning sees over 90% of its candidates successfully complete courses, many of them going on to further study and career progression. Firmly established in the health and care, IT, hospitality, education, retail and construction sectors, the expansion programme will also take uke learning into hair and beauty, car repair and maintenance, and a raft of other new industries.
Employers might well be aware that they need to improve the skills of their workforces, the company maintains, but the message that funding from the government is available to make it possible is not yet clear enough. “Far from being a financial burden to an employer, we can show how funding from a variety of sources can be accessed to make training a positive boon in a time of economic crisis,” adds Durham.
uke learning is aware that training can be viewed by some employers as lost time, so the company runs courses at the employer’s premises, timed to fit around shift patterns and work routines. “We provide everything, from Skills for Life and basic English, Maths and IT, to industry specific advanced NVQs. The resultant increase in skills more than outweighs the few hours absorbed by the training, as the vast majority of candidates become more focused and productive as a result,” Durham concludes.
Employers wishing to access funding and training for their employees should contact uke learning on 0208 819 6066 or visit www.ukelearning.com.
