Coastal West Sussex Partnership urges government rethink on apprenticeship funding for businesses 

Influential business partnership Coastal West Sussex (CWS)  today hit out at a government decision which could see a drastic drop in the number of small firm apprenticeships on offer in the region.

Government has awarded no funding for the Universities of Chichester and Brighton to run apprenticeship schemes on behalf of small and medium sized businesses despite growing demand in the area.  The Further Education Colleges received only about 50% of their requirements.

The South East as a whole has fared badly in the funding announcement despite the universities and colleges working hard with local businesses to grow demand and offer apprenticeships particularly in the digital, construction and engineering industries.

Now CWS chairman Geoff Edwards has written to the government’s Apprenticeships Minister Anne Milton calling for an urgent rethink.

In the letter, which has also been sent to all MPs covering the Coastal West Sussex region Mr Edwards, Executive Vice President of UK Operations at the high-end audio company Bowers and Wilkins says he is “very disappointed” by the outcome.

“This curtailed funding will force education providers to work with just the Levy paying employers which, along the coast, are few and far between as only a small percentage of companies are  large enough to actually pay the Apprenticeship Levy in this area,” he writes.

Director of CWS, Caroline Wood added, “This is extremely disappointing particularly given the hard work that has already gone in to creating these courses and growing the demand,” said director Caroline Wood, “Some courses will have to be scrapped despite there being demand from local people and businesses.

“This is short-sighted thinking by the government and ignores the very real need smaller businesses have in the Coastal West Sussex region for young people with new skills to help local businesses  develop their markets.”

In particular the University of Chichester had been developing a broad range of  Degree Apprenticeships and is about to open a new, £38M Engineering and Digital Technology Centre in Bognor Regis which would also have offered apprenticeships including Digital Degree Apprenticeships for which there is a desperate shortage in the area.

Now with no allocation of funding those are in serious doubt.

Skills levels at apprenticeship level in the coastal area are 11% lower than the rest of the region and the CWS Partnership says the new Centre in Bognor Regis with strong links to local small and medium businesses offered career pathway opportunities to inspire local young people and support the wider education led regeneration of the area.

The nearest university to win funding is in Portsmouth making it very difficult and costly for new apprentices on day release to attend.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (Esfa) funding was announced just before Christmas with big differences in the regional winners and losers.

The figures are for non-levy apprenticeships which the government funds for businesses with an annual paybill of less than £3m. Levy employers, usually larger companies, will be unaffected by this move.

Coastal West Sussex Partnership has been very active in promoting apprenticeships and the importance of STEM educational subjects, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, so that young people in the area can gain the skills needed by local businesses.

CWS is running its third Coastal STEMfest this year; an interactive series of events aimed at inspiring young people, particularly girls, to take STEM subjects to meet the growing national and local demand.

Opportunities at Coast to Capital

Coast to Capital is at an exciting time in our development and seeking to recruit professionals to our small, highly motivated and engaged team. We have a vacancy for a Governance/Compliance Officer who will be responsible for delivering our governance arrangements and ensuring compliance with our Assurance Framework. We are also looking for a Strategy and Policy Manager who will support the Head of Strategy and Policy to develop, review and deliver on Coast to Capital’s overarching strategies for economic growth.  For more information and how to apply please visit our website. 

Support Growing for Brighton Mainline Alliance

The ‘Brighton Mainline Alliance’ is a group of businesses and organisations that support the aim for Government to fully commit to funding strategic investment in the Brighton Mainline.  We are delighted that over 30 organisations and the majority of our regional MPs have already demonstrated their support for the Alliance. If you haven’t already please show your support by sending your company logo to Jake Daniels. If you are an Alliance member please share the campaign messages and encourage others in your network to join.

Launch into 2018 with a challenge for St Barnabas House

Join St Barnabas for a breathtaking year of action-packed challenges in 2018 and together we can reach everyone who needs hospice care.

Snowdon Sunset Trek - Explore and summit the highest mountain in England and Wales and witness the beautiful sunset across snowdonia whilst raising vital funds for St Barnabas House.

Trail or Road Cycling - 20-4- miles off-road over the southdowns or 100 miles through London and Surrey.

Jump, Climb or Fly - Abseil down an iconic building or soar through skies at 120 miles per hour.

10k or Ultra Marathon - 10k coastal run, a marathon with a picturesque view or 53.5 miles finishing at Winchester Cathedral.

Walk, Trek or Hike - Overseas or in the UK, covering 200 miles in a team and seeing sights of Sussex or walking through the night for your local hospice.

Find out more here

Are you ready to attract new buyers?

West Sussex County Council has commissioned Natural Partnerships CIC to create an opportunity for the county's food and drink producers to meet and sell to new buyers. This Meet the Buyer Event will be held on 26th February 2018 in West Sussex - spaces are limited, so register below for your stand space! 

 Building up to this, we are managing four fully subsidised workshops to help you get ready to sell to new buyers.

You might make the most delicious product in the world, but a recent survey showed that buyers from retail, wholesale and hospitality businesses often find that local producers don't have everything ready to be able to sell to them, however good your product is. This might be that your pricing isn't quite right; you don't have the right certificates to meet their health and hygiene procurement rules; or your marketing and packaging needs to be more appealing to customers. Or perhaps you've got all this right, but just need a refresher to make sure you're bang up to date. 

The following workshops have been designed, with input from local producers, to help make sure you are ready to sell - and that you are ready to sell to the right buyer for your business. Sign up for any or all of the following workshops now, but be quick places are limited!

Meet the Buyer Event - 12-4pm, 26th February 2018

We can offer free stand spaces to up to 50 West Sussex food and drink producers at a special event, hosted in West Sussex, attended by dozens of buyers from retail, wholesale and hospitality businesses. This will be based on a first come first served basis.

REGISTER HERE

Workshop 1 - The Nuts & Bolts 

Monday 22 January 2018, 2-4.30pm, Bolney Wine Estate

Who are my customers? Costings and pricing. How to distribute. Packaging and design. 

Experts will help you make sure that you have everything in place to get to the exciting part - selling to new customers. 

REGISTER HERE

Workshop 2 - Are you ready to sell?

Monday 29 January 2018, 2-4.30pm, Highdown Vineyard

Legal requirements. Packs for auditing. Preparing for a customer visit. Can you scale up the business?

Experts will help you get the paperwork in place so that you are ready to receive new customers and manage success, without compromising your business and product. 

REGISTER HERE

Workshop 3 - Marketing your products

Monday 12 February 2018, 2-4.30pm, Bolney Wine Estate

Developing your story. Marketing packs - practical exercise. Social media. Public relations. 

Experts will help you through a practical exercise to build your story and prepare your marketing pack to give to buyers, with top tips on supporting your customers through social online and attracting media profile.  

REGISTER HERE

Workshop 4 - Selling your products

Monday 19 February 2018, 2-4.30pm, Highdown Vineyard

Going to a trade show & following up enquiries. Finding the right customers. Relationship building and maintenance. Keeping your products listed. 

Southern Co-op's Local Flavours Sourcing Manager will lead this workshop, with support from a leading local food producer who can add producer insight.

£14.35 Million ERDF Call Launched

Coast to Capital has launched a new £14.35 million European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) call.  This call focuses on Innovation, Business Support and Low Carbon, and whilst the activity must take place in the Coast to Capital area we are looking for bids from organisations across England. Coast to Capital held an event in Horsham last week to launch the funding, which was both well attended and well received. Read the full press release here. 

£27 Million for Regional Projects

Coast to Capital has announced that 10 projects from across the region will be provided funding from the final phase of Growth Deal 1 and Growth Deal 2. A total of £27 million has been allocated in the areas of Housing, Regeneration & Infrastructure; Business, Enterprise & Skills; and Transport. The approved projects are subject to due diligence and final checks and will provide 810 new homes, 2,651 new jobs, 34,762 square metres of Commercial Space and 7,953 square metres of Learning Space. Read the full list of projects here. 

First Rampion power is delivered to the national grid

The first of Rampion Offshore Wind Farm's 116 turbines has started generating electricity, with the others set to follow as they are commissioned and turned on one by one in the coming months.

Delivering first power to the grid is a significant milestone for the project, as it moves from the construction phase towards full operation.

The installation of all the turbines was completed in September in just six months, with the two MPI jack-up vessels - Discovery and Adventure - working around the clock to get the job done.

Installing the final turbine was a major milestone but since the last newsletter, work has also included completion of the project's electrical infrastructure, which is less visible but no less vital for the wind farm.

Offshore, this meant the burial of all 144 kilometres of array cables, which connect the turbines to the offshore substation, as well as the completion of the offshore substation itself. Onshore, all 26.8 kilometres of cables are now installed and working, and the substation at Twineham is also operating. The first power generated by Rampion was delivered to the grid on 26th November. Teams of technicians working inside the turbines and onshore in the control rooms will continue carrying out final work required for each turbine to start producing electricity.

All turbines are due to be generating power later in 2018 when the wind farm will be fully operational.

Click here to read the rest of the Rampion newsletter 

Seasons Greeting from Rampion

For the past seven years, during the development and construction of the Rampion Offshore Windfarm, we have been proudly supporting the Sussex-based international charity, 'Renewable World' and their work to tackle poverty through renewable energy.

The funds donated during this time have enabled Renewable World to change the lives of those living in some of the poorest communities in the world; providing them with a clean and sustainable source of energy to light homes, pump clean water and power small businesses.

Over the years, instead of buying Christmas cards our support has equated to the installation of 50 solar panels, which can generate electricity for 4 solar-powered water pumping systems, giving 30 Nepali families access to their own tap water right outside their home.

Find out more information about the work of Renewable World visit
www.renewable-world.org

Teville Gate: We are underway, says council, as hoardings go up 

The first stage of the redevelopment of Worthing's Teville Gate is now evident as the installation of the hoardings that will surround the whole site begin to go up.

Concrete ballast blocks which will anchor the hoardings are currently being delivered and the work to seal off the site will take three weeks.

In a separate development Worthing Borough Council has confirmed it has put out the tender for the demolition of the multi-storey car park.

The Council has injected fresh impetus into the Teville Gate project by securing funding for the demolition of the only part of the site it controls, the car park, in a bid to accelerate redevelopment on the wider site.

To help keep everyone informed about the demolition, two large banners will adorn the car park before it comes down telling passers-by that the project is undertaken by Worthing Borough Council supported by Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership, ECE Architecture and RLF consultants.

Councillor Kevin Jenkins, Worthing Borough Council's deputy leader and executive member for regeneration, said: “I am pleased the Council has taken the lead on this. We wanted to show our commitment to making things happen on this key site and I think people can see as the hoardings go up that this is an important first step forward. It demonstrates our determination of Building Worthing.

“We can only really affect what we control and that is the car park. But of course it forms part of the plans to transform the whole site so we wanted to show that we are prepared to lead the way, kickstarting the regeneration for residents now and for the generations to come.

“We very much look forward to seeing the owners of the site Mosaique develop their plans working with them to bring the long overdue renaissance of this gateway area of Worthing to fruition.”

The Council has a long-term lease on the car park which has enabled it to move for demolition.

Mosaique, who own the site, has announced plans to build build houses, retail and office space on the site which it now calls Station Square.

Earlier this year Aized Sheikh, CEO of Mosaique said: “We have invested heavily in Worthing because we see its potential as a rising star on the South Coast.”

The hoardings will seal off the site and allow preparatory work to take place ahead of work commencing in the new year.

When the hoardings are up the thoroughfare that commuters use through the middle of the development will be closed, subject to permission by the highways authority West Sussex County Council.

A small car park, also controlled by West Sussex County Council, will no longer be in use.

In addition, the underpass at the multi-storey car park which connects to the Morrisons superstore side of the A24 will also no longer be in use.

The Council has committed to creating clear signage from the railway station to both the town centre and the superstore when those routes are blocked off early in the new year.

Although West Sussex County Council is the highways authority, officials at Worthing Borough Council are asking politely for motorists not to park on the site and find alternatives nearby.