Join us for some networking over breakfast with fellow local businesses and employers, where we’ll be able to give another short update on how the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) aims to tackle skills shortages in the region.
Speaker and Topic- Louise From R A Brown discusses skills challenges they have faced in the heating sector and talks about their new training facility which will be based at Easton College.
Agenda
8.00am – Networking
Breakfast is served
Welcome from Dean Pierpoint Presentation on LSIP/Q&A
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Join us for a free employer breakfast to explore how a Skills Brokerage System could help your business access the right training, courses, and workforce solutions.
✅ Network with local employers ✅ Share your views in a roundtable discussion ✅ Help shape a smarter, more responsive skills system
Free to attend | Breakfast included
There will be a free tour of the zoo at the end of the event for attendees that wish to stay.
Hosted by LSIP in partnership with Norfolk Chambers of Commerce and the Department for Education
Join us for a free employer breakfast to explore how a Skills Brokerage System could help your business access the right training, courses, and workforce solutions.
✅ Network with local employers ✅ Share your views in a roundtable discussion ✅ Help shape a smarter, more responsive skills system
Free to attend | Breakfast included
Hosted by LSIP in partnership with Norfolk Chambers of Commerce and the Department for Education
Join us for this insightful event tackling one of the biggest questions facing local businesses right now: How do we close the region’s skills gap?
Hosted on behalf of the Norfolk and Suffolk Local Skills Improvement Partnership, this interactive session brings together business leaders to share practical insights and good practice on:
Recruiting and retaining apprentices
Thinking outside the box in recruitment
Attracting and retaining diverse workforce
How can we solve the skills challenge? You will also have the opportunity to take part in a roundtable discussion to tell us about your current skills challenges, and what we can do to address local skills needs.
This is your chance to connect, collaborate, and contribute to shaping solutions that work for your business.
Cory Brothers Limited has been a trusted supply chain partner for businesses for over 180 years providing freight forwarding, project logistics, customs clearance, liner, and warehousing.
Head of Strategic Development Mike Bowden explains why they are a Keystone Employer in Suffolk:
What are the benefits of engaging with the Norfolk and Suffolk LSIP?
“At Cory we are committed to supporting young people who are considering a role in shipping. As a keystone employer and by engaging with the Norfolk and Suffolk LSIP at events and through one-to-one conversations, we are able to showcase what a rewarding career in shipping can be to the next generation of employees.”
What is the importance of the LSIP within the local skills Landscape?
”The most important thing is the ability to articulate the employer needs and creating a better alignment between the employer and educator. This will ensure that the workforce is better prepared for current and future job markets.”
What is the value of supporting skills within your workplace?
“One of the key values at Cory Brothers is developing our people. We believe in setting ambitious goals and constantly pushing our own limits, and encourage our team members to surpass themselves, explore new ideas, and innovate. Through this we create a positive and inspiring work environment where people can develop, collaborate, and enjoy what they do.”
PCE Automation provide bespoke solutions to global manufacturing challenges, and a Suffolk Keystone employer for the Norfolk and Suffolk LSIP.
Managing Director Shaun Wigley explains more:
What are the benefits of engaging with the Norfolk and Suffolk LSIP?
“PCE Automation actively contributes by participating in LSIP surveys and speaking at local events. This engagement has enabled us to share our experience collaborating with local colleges and apprenticeships, while gaining insight into how the LSIP is shaping the skills agenda for Suffolk”.
What is the importance of the LSIP within the local skills landscape?
“The LSIP plays a critical role by giving local businesses a voice to identify specific skills needs within our county and industry. This ensures that training programmes and qualifications are effectively tailored to meet the evolving requirements of the Suffolk economy”.
What is the value of supporting skills within your workplace?
“The future strength of our sector depends on developing talent internally. Through collaboration with educators, trainers, and businesses, the Norfolk and Suffolk LSIP helps maintain a steady pipeline of skilled individuals, safeguarding the sustainability and growth of our industry”.
Flagship Group – solving the housing crisis in the East of England.
Nadine Tapp Head of Group Academy tells us why the LSIP is important to them.
“As Chair of the Building Growth sector group, I’ve seen first-hand the difference a strong, responsive skills system can make. Working with the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) has given me clearer insight into the skills landscape – and a platform to voice the real challenges employers like Flagship face”.
“At Flagship, we’ve always taken a hands-on approach to training and growing new talent. But partnering with the LSIP has helped sharpen that focus. It’s allowed us to raise concerns, highlight gaps, and work closer with local providers. A great example is our collaboration with one of our local colleges – a relationship that grew through this work and helped us win the LSIP Sponsored Large Employer Award at the Norfolk Apprenticeships Awards.”
“I’m also proud to contribute as a Keystone Employer for the LSIP, where I can bring a housing and construction perspective to the table and help shape a skills agenda that’s built around the needs of our sector and our places”.
At the invitation of Jess Asato, MP for Lowestoft, Co-Chair of the East of England All Party Parliamentary Group and member of the Education Select Committee, representatives from the Norfolk & Suffolk Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) went to Westminster yesterday to debate what the future direction of the skills landscape in Norfolk and Suffolk could look like, particularly in light of forthcoming devolution.
The Norfolk and Suffolk LSIP puts the employer at the heart of the local skills system and is delivered collaboratively by the Norfolk and Suffolk Chambers of Commerce. Joining them in Westminster to consider the current skills landscape and the future landscape, were business leaders, key stakeholders from colleges/providers and the public sector. Plus a range of cross-party MPs from both counties.
The group took the opportunity to review the current local skills landscape – its complexity, the potential for duplication, and the continued existence of skills gaps. They also took into account the large number of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) such a Sizewell C, National Highways schemes and Reservoirs, as well as Offshore Wind that all have the potential to displace regional skills talent and leave large future skills gaps in some sectors.
All agreed that there was an urgent need to continue to gain even more collaboration across all sectors and that, as a region, we needed to be able to clearly articulate the skills ask to all the mayoral candidates for the Mayoral Combined County Authority. Simplification and a clear direction of travel for the skills landscape would also help support employers understanding of the system and how to access it better.
Commenting on the discussions and the need to gain local political support, Dean Pierpoint, the Skills Director for the Norfolk & Suffolk LSIP, said: “The role of Suffolk and Norfolk Chambers and the LSIP is to develop and draft the next iteration of the LSIP for 2026/2029. We need to ensure that both our MPs and the Mayoral candidates are clear about the growth opportunities and the needs of our local skills system and we thank Jess Asato for bringing us all together in Westminster to debate a collaborative way forward.”
Also in attendance at the meeting was John Dugmore, Chief Executive of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, commenting on the need to gain further support for the LSIP and the local skills landscape. He said: “Ensuring that our local skills system works effectively for both employers and learners is critical if Norfolk and Suffolk are to seize the opportunities ahead. This was a timely and proactive discussion, providing a valuable forum to engage with political leaders and share insights from businesses. As we move towards the next stage of the LSIP, we look forward to securing parliamentary support, shaping a clear future for skills across Norfolk and Suffolk.”