The expert business partner you may not know is there

In the current climate, the opportunity to explore any avenue of productive support is a welcome one. Businesses, particularly SMEs, may not know about one source of support which could prove invaluable in helping them not only survive but to thrive through the pandemic and beyond.

Further education (FE) colleges are on the doorstep of businesses countrywide, but according to the recently published Independent Commission on the Colleges of the Future, their expertise can be “poorly understood” and “under-utilised”. The Commission, chaired by the UK’s national statistician, Professor Sir Ian Diamond, sets out a central productivity role for colleges as strategic partners to employers, providing advice and support and driving business change, innovation, and future workforce planning.

The imminent FE reform White Paper is anticipated to echo this vision. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said colleges should be playing a leading role in developing skills locally, responding to local economic need and acting as cen