North Staffordshire Construction Centre

Last Friday I was invited to open the new North Staffordshire Construction Centre. This is located within Groundwork's offices on Moorland Road. It is there to link local unemployed young people to local companies looking for a skilled workforce to contribute to the regeneration of the area.

This was a particularly welcome event. Some years ago I was in touch with the previous owners of the building who were desperately seeking to maintain UK manufacturing of industrial ceramic processes. In the end all our combined efforts failed and the business closed. Yet out of that near disaster has come two developments. Firstly Groundwork has acquired the building and is busy adapting it to fit our young people with the skills they need to find local jobs. And secondly the original owners of the building are now operating in China but have maintained their links with Burslem and are once again based there, but this time in Adelaide St.

So it was good to open a new training centre after so much hard work by so many to secure the grants and funds to help the large number of young people out of work, training and education to find their niche.

At the opening I was able to see for myself the construction related training - plumbing, plastering, CSCS cards, bricklaying, tiling, excavating and fork lift truck licenses. To date Groundwork have 1985 registered clients and have put 206 people through construction training, assisting 80 people into employment already.

This new facility coincides with the government placing the national spotlight on training and apprenticeship schemes for young people. At the opening I was able to pay tribute to a constituent who has just won national acclaim as a result of winning the Medallion of Excellence whilst representing the UK in the World Bricklaying competition in Japan.

In his case, his employer takes apprentices seriously. What we urgently need are new employers to come forward and get involved in setting up apprenticeship schemes. Without this we will have a skills gap in the future. We only have to think about the huge role that the Michelin once played in our area, training apprentices in mechanical engineering and preparing them through the extensive sports facilities that there where at the Michelin for a healthy life, to understand the value of apprenticeships.

It is important that today's' employers work through the North Staffordshire Regeneration Board to set up the opportunities that today's businesses and young people alike need.

Groundwork's new centre, linking as it does with local employers is seeking to recruit. It has already brought together many, and it is clear that the Construction Employment Centre is set to support a large number of young people in their transition  to work.

I am especially keen to hear from employers who could work with the centre.