16 Jun 2009
The National Skills Academy Process Industries has welcomed the first commercial training partner to have its products and services successfully accredited to skills academy standards, giving the training company access to hundreds of employers seeking skills training. UK-wide training and development provider PICME is now accredited as an academy Centre for Business Improvement, working alongside the skills academy to help employers in the chemicals, pharmaceuticals and polymers sectors address crucial skills gaps across the £67bn industries. PICME was set up in 2000 specifically to service the UK’s process industries, and its approach is based on helping businesses to improve performance through engaging with their people and improving their skills.
The company becomes the first commercial provider to join the skills academy’s training provider network, which was set up with the help of employers keen to have access to an accredited bank of providers, and whose expertise has been verified to high standards they themselves have set.
PICME will now have access to a series of skills academy online resources such as the Skills Passport, which is a portable e-record of learning, and the opportunity to engage with employers through participation in a programme of workshops and seminars. The partnership is also set to boost PICME’s business development activities through referrals from the skills academy’s country-wide network of specialists.
Sarah Grindrod , client services manager, of PICME said: “Becoming a skills academy accredited training partner is a great achievement for our team, who work so hard to create and deliver the range and depth of training programmes and bottom line savings that employers seek. “As well as the obvious business development benefits that the accreditation will bring, we look forward to making our own contribution to the skills academy’s work to help employers themselves drive the skills agenda.
“Our work with over 200 client organisations - collectively saving them over £120million - means we understand the needs of process industries employers, can quickly recognise good and weak practices and know what improvements are possible and how these should be approached. We lead the development of best practice in this critical sector and have demonstrated that we have the credibility and competencies required to work with the skills academy to bring about major change within the industries’ skills development framework.”
Chief executive of the National Skills Academy Process Industries, Phil Jones, said: “We are delighted to welcome PICME as the first commercial provider to become an academy Centre for Business Improvement. “The company’s excellent track record on both design and delivery clearly illustrate that its team understands process industries skills issues. As a founder member of our provider network we see them as a crucial partner in helping us to create a joined-up skills framework that will benefit everyone working in the process industries. “Addressing the wide-ranging skills issues and raising the standards bar across this £67bn industry is no small task, and we need high calibre companies such as PICME to work alongside us to help employers create the world-class workforce that will secure their long term future.”
The partnership was officially endorsed at the skills academy’s recent inaugural National Skills Conference, which brought together employers and providers keen to address the skills shortages within the process industries.
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