east midlands chamber

East Midlands Chamber and Chesterfield Borough Council join forces to help businesses create jobs for young people via Kickstart scheme

East Midlands Chamber has teamed up with Chesterfield Borough Council to encourage businesses to get more young people into work by taking advantage of the new Kickstart scheme.

The Government programme covers the cost of a six-month work placement for 16 to 24-year-olds who are on Universal Credit or at risk of long-term unemployment.

Employers that want to create at least 30 placements can apply directly to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for a grant to cover the costs, but companies with fewer than 30 roles must apply via recognised gateway organisations, such as the Chamber.

To date, the Chamber has signed up almost 340 businesses and facilitated more than 1,000 potential placements across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. About a third of these are digital and technology roles, with other popular jobs include business and finance, as well as transport and storage.

To engage more businesses to create job opportunities for young people in their communities, and benefit from the additional resources offered by work placement students, the Chamber has collaborated with local authorities and other organisations.

As part of its latest partnership with Chesterfield Borough Council, it will hold a free virtual information session on Monday 7 December for businesses to find out what the scheme involves and giving them the opportunity to join 20 other organisations in the borough of Chesterfield – which together want to create 59 placements – in making applications.

Diane Beresford, deputy chief executive of East Midlands Chamber, said: “We know young people have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and the huge amount of unemployment it has created, so the Kickstart scheme is an important mechanism for helping them to get the skills they need to prepare for the world of work.

“Businesses that take part will be playing a vital role in their communities by supporting and preparing our future workforce, but there are also many benefits for employers.

“As this is a fully-funded scheme, it allows organisations to trial new roles, and provides relevant training and mentoring to ensure the young person has the most up-to-date skills and knowledge. There is also a relatively risk-free opportunity to identify good-quality apprentices, opening a pathway for both the employer and employee to grow together.

“It’s important that the public and private sector work together, and our partnership with Chesterfield Borough Council is a great example as we want to make sure as many companies as possible take advantage of these opportunities.”

Councillor Amanda Serjeant, deputy leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, added: “We understand that Covid-19 has affected our communities in a variety of ways, but it has especially impacted on our younger workforce, with the number of 18 to 24-year-olds claiming out of work benefits nearly doubling since March 2020. We’re delighted to be working with East Midlands Chamber to help support the economy and assist both businesses and workers in mitigating the negative impacts of Covid-19.

“One of the council’s key aims is to ensure that Chesterfield is a thriving borough and the Kickstart scheme will open up much-needed opportunities for young people to develop their skills and careers for the future. There are also many benefits for our local businesses who participate in this scheme during this challenging time. Therefore, we’re encouraging businesses to engage with this fully-funded programme to offer our younger generation vital work roles that will build fundamental skills.

“The information session we are running on Monday 7 December will be a beneficial tool for businesses, helping them to gain further insight into the scheme and the support on offer to them in making applications. We encourage all businesses that are interested to attend and utilise this free resource available to them.”

The £2bn Kickstart scheme was announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as part of his Plan for Jobs to help young people into work and spur Britain’s post-Covid economic revival.

A quarter of a million people aged under 25 have claimed unemployment benefits since March, while the unemployment rate among young people is far higher than the overall rate of 4.8%, reaching 14.6%.

The Chamber has already held four online information sessions that attracted 250 attendees, many of which are among the 320 businesses that have since registered with the Chamber to recruit for placements. Some of these organisations have multiple vacancies.

Acting on their behalf, the Chamber applies to the DWP for funding, which pays 100% of the age-relevant National Minimum Wage, national insurance and pension contributions for 25 hours a week.

Employers can choose to top up this wage and are also eligible for a £1,500 Government grant for training people on a Kickstart placement.

The Chamber started making applications on 1 November. Once they are accepted, young people are referred into the roles via a Jobcentre Plus work coach. Application can be made until December 2021 initially.

Diane added: “The number of businesses that have already booked on to our information sessions shows there’s great appetite out there among businesses to take advantage of these opportunities.

“Businesses receive the full salary cost for six months, but we’re also educating them about the finer details, such as how they must provide employability skills to individuals so they will be well-equipped to land permanent jobs in the future.”

The Kickstart Your Business: Accessing the Kickstart Programme session being run by the Chamber in partnership with Chesterfield Borough Council will be held via Zoom on Monday 7 December from 12pm to 1pm.

It is free for both members and non-members of the Chamber, and open to anyone regardless of whether they are based in the Chesterfield area.

It will feature a welcome by Cllr Amanda Serjeant, presentation by the Chamber’s deputy chief executive Diane Beresford and education and business partnership manager Pieter Eksteen, and a Q&A.

Businesses can sign up to the event here.

Other upcoming online information sessions include:

chamber video export

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Sustainable East Midlands campaign launched to put region at forefront of UK’s ‘Build Back Greener’ vision

East Midlands Chamber has urged the region’s businesses to go green and reap the benefits to their bottom line in a new campaign.

The Sustainable East Midlands initiative will highlight both the business case and regulatory requirements for companies that engage with the low-carbon agenda.

It includes a new online information portal that will point firms to financial support available to them and a series of educational events, beginning with the East Midlands Energy Summit later this month.

The campaign has been launched following research by the Chamber and University of Derby, which highlighted how sustainability is rising up the business agenda – but also showed a gap in awareness for many organisations.

East Midlands Chamber chief executive Scott Knowles said: “With the seismic shift in the economy and the way businesses look to develop new ways to operate, there is no better time to focus on the opportunities and the potential offered by the sustainability agenda.

“With its manufacturing heritage, innovative businesses and academic base, the East Midlands has the raw ingredients to be at the forefront of delivering a low-carbon economy – particularly important at a time when the UK Government has a vision to ‘build back greener’ from the pandemic.

“This isn’t just about sustainability for the sake of being greener, as this translates into the bottom line of businesses through efficiency and resilience. Adopting greener credentials reduces running costs and helps to win new contracts and business.

“The Sustainable East Midlands campaign will play a pivotal role in shining a spotlight on the great companies already heavily engaged in the low-carbon agenda, while signposting more businesses in this direction – because now is the time to take responsibility and reap the rewards.”

University of Derby and East Midlands Chamber research on sustainability engagement and awareness among businesses

Sustainable East Midlands is the product of a long-standing partnership between the Chamber and University of Derby, which has yielded unique data about the region’s engagement with the sustainability agenda.

In February, the university included a set of questions related to this topic for the Q1 2020 edition of the Chamber’s Quarterly Economic Survey, which explores a range of business interests to gauge the state of the region’s economy.

More than 400 Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire businesses took part in the survey and it showed the percentage of businesses deriving turnover from low-carbon and pro-environmental goods and services has nearly doubled between 2015 and 2020 – growing from 16% to 31% during this period.

Just over a third (35%) of businesses said they were integrating clean growth into their business plan, while the proportion of firms not considering clean growth opportunities at all had decreased from 36% in 2018 to 14% in 2020.

On the flip side, four in 10 businesses said they did not feel well-informed about support for clean growth.
Dr Fred Paterson, an associate professor at the University of Derby and the Low Carbon Business Network lead at Derby Business School, led the research team.

He said: “There is growing evidence that companies putting environmental sustainability at the heart of their operations are more successful and more likely to survive over time than other firms.

“At the same time, the UK low-carbon economy has been growing steadily for more than a decade and has weathered storms like the financial crash of 2008 and the Covid-19 pandemic better than other sectors of the economy.

“It’s no surprise that our research has shown the number of businesses in the East Midlands that provide pro-environmental goods and services has doubled over the past five years.

“The Sustainable East Midlands initiative is therefore a really welcome support for the increasing number of smaller business that want to build their sustainable credentials and grow their business in ways that are also positive for the environment.”

The topic of sustainability was also discussed recently at the Destination Chesterfield Round Table event, with several local business figures speaking on what more can be done to drive sustainability in our region.

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Brexit Conference will prepare East Midlands businesses for new EU trading relationship

Businesses can find out how to prepare for a new trading relationship with the EU by attending a free online event hosted by East Midlands Chamber.

This year’s Brexit Conference, which takes place over the course of a morning on Thursday 26 November and is held in partnership with the Derbyshire Economic Partnership and Nottinghamshire County Council, will review the sweeping changes that 1 January 2021 will bring for exporters and importers.

Titled Business Preparedness: Where Are We Now?, it will offer guidance on the measures that can be taken to prepare for these changes and delve into what future trading conditions might look like.
East Midlands Chamber chief executive Scott Knowles, who will deliver the opening address, said: “There are huge changes coming for businesses on 1 January, regardless of whether or not a trade deal is forthcoming, and now is the time to prepare.

“With all the latest updates, tips and takeaways, this year’s conference is a must for all those looking to continue, or prepare, trading overseas.”

The virtual conference involves a series of live streamed webinar sessions, keynote speakers and case studies.

It is aimed at businesses that trade internationally, customs agents, employees in businesses who are responsible for completing export documentation, and personnel who administer the documentation, sales, purchasing, logistics, dispatch and freight forwarders embarking into the export world.

Confirmed sessions include an overview of the future changes to trading conditions, HMRC update, routes to export markets, standards certification and the CE mark, effective supplier collaboration, HR implications and the ChamberCustoms offer.

Speakers include Keith Robe, managing director of customs solutions firm Cusdec; Simon Hart, lead international partner at RSM UK; Paragon Law managing director Thalej Vasishta; Nottingham University Business School professor of operations management Bart MacCarthy; and East Midlands Chamber’s director of partnerships David Pearson.

The Brexit Conference will take place on 26 November from 9am to 11.40am. To book a place, visit bit.ly/34D1jgJ.

Find out more about the range of support on offer for Chesterfield businesses, or to discover more business event happening locally, click here 

 

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