Eddie Stobart pledges support for Smart Business Academy
Stobart Group has joined an unprecedented number of major employers, spanning the logistics, transport and supply chain sectors, to form the Smart Business Academy and lead a sector-wide bid for Employer Ownership of Skills funding.
The move sees a host of blue-chip businesses join forces to improve the perception of careers in their sectors, create business growth, create jobs and share innovation and best practice. These businesses will work together to identify the skills requirements of the current and future workforce in order to ensure that they can attract and develop talent to fulfill business growth plans.
Through the Employer Ownership of Skills funding, these collaborating and confident companies hope to deliver an extensive programme of high-quality, employer-led training and investment in skills across the logistics, transport and supply chain industries. If successful with the employer ownership pilot, the funding will be used to support learning solutions which do not fall under the scope of current frameworks and will be in addition to existing training, skills and business initiatives.
Companies already committed to the Smart Business Academy include: Arla Foods, Arriva, ASDA, Bibby Distribution, Kuehne + Nagel, Royal Mail, Sellafield Ltd, Stena Line, Stobart Group, TNT and Yodel – they form the interim Board which has 100% employer membership.
The Smart Business Academy is the bid for funding from these aligned industries that will also deliver for government a National Industrial Partnership (NIP) and was formed after these businesses decided to collaborate to achieve mutual benefit and growth.
The Smart Business Academy model features three key pillars: people development, business development and innovation and communication. An interim main Board, and thus nascent NIP comprising the large employer representatives, is spearheading the programme to ensure that the widest possible number of businesses have the opportunity to benefit.
