City News

Employees at The NEC and other organisations across the region can now gain brand new skills and qualifications thanks to the creation of The Learning Zone.

‘The brand new skills centre was launched at The NEC by Pat McFadden, MP for Wolverhampton South East and Minister for Employment Relations.

It comes through a unique partnership between The NEC Group, South Birmingham College and Unite.

The centre aims to arm workers with basic numeracy and literacy skills and help them achieve nationally recognised qualifications through a range of exciting courses.

Staff from the college’s Skills for Life division will help workers in need of training, including the local community, by inviting them to attend The Learning Zone at times to suit them and on a flexible basis.

The NEC Group provided a room, formerly the Lord Mayor’s Suite, for the Learning Zone and this was refurbished and modernised with state-of-the-art learning facilities.

The project was made possible thanks to Unite securing £35,000 of development funding through regional development agency Advantage West Midlands, and with The NEC Group investing a further £18,000 in the high tech learning environment.

David Cooper of The NEC Group Human Resources said: “As part of our commitment to empowering our employees we were keen to invest in The Learning Zone.

“Education is at the very heart of The NEC Group, with training and development offered to all, whether it is practical training or to gain qualifications.

“Thanks to the collaboration of the college and Unite we can make it easier for our staff, and other workers throughout the region, to access this by allowing them to attend the Centre at time to suit them.”

Pat McFadden said: “In today’s world of work, access to skills and qualifications is more important than ever. Union learning centres like this can make a real difference to boosting people’s skills and confidence. They can also increase people’s earning power and provide them with more opportunities – and they are good for employers too because business is very keen to have a better, more skilled workforce.

“We have increased the funding available for union learning from £2 million in 1998 to over £21 million in 2008. This funding is helping unions and employers to equip workers for the future.

“I think this centre will be a great asset to staff and users of The NEC.”

Paul Morris, assistant principal at South Birmingham College, said: “We’ve worked with Unite to provide skills training for their employees which has proved very successful.

“They were very enthusiastic about their experience and we saw there were wider opportunities for basic skills provision.

“Research shows poor basic skills can result in lower productivity, so it is in the employers’ best interests to ensure their staff receives the training they need.”

Bob Sissons, regional education and development organiser at Unite, said: “We are keen to work with employers and training providers such as The NEC and South Birmingham College to develop the appropriate learning that will benefit both the employee and the employer.”

With the 2012 Olympics fast approaching, there is an ever-demanding need for skills-training to prepare for the role that Birmingham will play and it is hoped that The Learning Zone will play a key to part in that.