Skills and Enterprise - Readings Future Success

Enterprise and Skills - Reading's Future Success' was sponsored by Novotel Reading Centre and held on Monday 8 February.

The forum highlighted how we can make sure that the future workforce reflects the needs of local businesses; what the local skills priorities are and enterprise initiatives at Thames Valley University's Reading Campus; what local employers' are seeking from the future workforce and the current workforces' IT skills, how businesses can receive £2,500 by employing a young apprentice through the Governments' AGE 16-17 programme and how businesses can receive £1,000 when taking on a graduate intern for a 13 week placement through the GradSEED programme.

We also launched the Connect Reading Say Yes Challenge a 12 week mentoring programme that will run from the end of April working with NEET young people where they develop ideas on how they can make a positive difference to their community. We are currently seeking business mentors to work in pairs with small groups of young people; you can express an interest and find out more about the opportunity here.

Speakers included:

Peter Bunyan, Managing Director, Micropoint

Zeena Cala, Employer Services Director, National Apprenticeship Service

Lee Nicholls, Executive Director, Thames Valley University Reading

Carey Widdows, Director, Careers Advisory Service, University of Reading.