Telford MP chairs skills roundtable
Shaun Davies, MP for Telford, chaired a roundtable for Telford-based businesses and organisations on Friday 17 October, to discuss nurturing skills and getting young people into the local workforce.
The roundtable, hosted by Shropshire Chamber of Commerce in their Telford conference facility, had representatives from Telford College, MoD Donnington, Shropshire Business, Aviramp, Elite Precast Concrete, Kuehne + Nagel, Nourish Holistic Wellbeing, Telford & Wrekin CVS, Clicking Mad and the Marches Local Skills Improvement Plan. It was an opportunity for educational, skills and youth organisations to share the barriers that young people faced to developing key skills and finding work experience, apprenticeships and jobs, and for businesses to provide their insight on recruiting young people.
Among the topics discussed were job opportunities for care leavers and support for young people with SEND; opportunities for engineering, construction and manufacturing sectors as an option for young people and also ensuring Telford’s young people are connected with work experience.
Shaun Davies, MP for Telford, said: “Colleges, businesses, young people and the Government all want the same thing: to connect jobs and apprenticeships with the people who want them. To facilitate that, we need a joined-up approach – and it was clear from the amount of common ground we uncovered at our roundtable that we have plenty of work to do to join up our approaches. I was more than happy to be able to connect the businesses facing workforce shortages with the organisations looking after young people who want jobs and opportunities. I’ll keep working to back Telford’s businesses and help Telford’s young people kickstart their careers.”
Ruth Ross, Chief Executive of Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Engaging with our local MPs isn’t just about lobbying – it’s about ensuring that the real-world concerns of Shropshire Chamber members and its partners can be fed into the national decision-making process. Our round table sessions give MPs vital insight into the challenges and opportunities facing our economy. Chambers of Commerce play a crucial role in facilitating these conversations, offering a trusted platform for evidence, consultation, and collaboration. The more connected our MPs are to the business community, the more responsive and effective our policies, campaigns and viewpoints become.”
Lawrence Wood, Principal & CEO Telford College, said “A positive meeting where all attendees showed a strong commitment to young people, our future workforce. Telford College is committed to working in partnership with employers to ensure young people have the opportunity to gain high quality experiences of the modern workplace and are grateful to the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce and Shaun Davies MP for their support.”
