At the beginning of 2002 the College of North East London approached Made in London with an idea for a project aimed at tackling the acute skills shortage being experienced by manufacturers in North London. This skills shortage meant that many manufacturers were struggling to fill vacancies for certain specialist roles and as a result companies were incurring production losses and high recruitment costs. In many cases companies were having to go outside the area, as far as the Midlands and North of England, to find suitable candidates for vacancies. The problem was being faced by small and large companies alike and in all cases was inhibiting their plans for expansion in the area.

This project aimed to upskill participants to meet the skills needs of manufacturing in the Upper Lee Valley. The end result is a rise in the skill level of individuals, improved company competitiveness and increased profitability.

The training is free to all manufacturing companies in the London Boroughs of Enfield, Haringey and Waltham Forest with less than 250 employees. To ensure that the time taken out of the workplace has a minimal effect on production CoNEL are flexible on where the training takes place. For courses where there are ten employees or more from one company then training can take place on-site, training for less than ten will take place at CoNEL’s excellent training facilities in Tottenham. CoNEL are even able to arrange specialist training tailored to meet the skills requirements of a particular company.

Many companies who have taken the opportunity to train one member of staff have been so impressed with the results that they have sent entire departments on a wide variety of courses.

Rensow Patisserie Limited is one such company. Freddy Denis is NPD Director and says “The subvention allowed us to send enough staff on the IOSH course to cover each department of the company. The members of staff are more aware of potential risk e.g. when setting a production line, managing potential hazards etc. The main benefit is the company is a friendlier and safer place to work.”