I recently had the pleasure of visiting long-standing Chamber member Superior Seals, to find out more about their in-house training academy.

Superior Seals place great value on the training and development of young people as the future of their business, and as such have developed a unique and innovative training school to deliver the Superior Engineering Technology Apprenticeship Scheme. Seventeen young people, a huge 10% of the workforce, are currently in the academy. It’s an extremely impressive facility and offers their employees fantastic opportunities in a high-tech industry that is constantly evolving.

I found the approach taken by Superior to be forward-thinking, innovative and extremely positive. They fully recognise that the on-going and future success of their businesses lies in the training of their workforce. This is an essential message for employers and something I am very keen we promote to our members and the wider business community.

Investment in training has huge benefits for any business; being able to embrace new and developing technology, a more motivated team, reduced staff turnover, increased bottom line and essentially investment in the future of your business.

I’ve often heard businesses point out they are reluctant to invest in training in case the employee leaves – my view is this is short-term thinking and the cost of failing to invest in your staff will be considerably higher.

Businesses that don’t invest in training will simply stand still as the world around them moves forward. We’ve just seen some record-breaking A-level results and many of these young people will now continue their studies at university.

This isn’t for everyone and many will also go on and begin apprenticeship programmes in their chosen field. Apprenticeships offer a great alternative and I feel are finally being recognised as an alternative, high-quality option to higher education.

Whether it’s university or an apprenticeship scheme, what’s clear is the future success of our businesses means we need a highly skilled workforce given the rate of change and development of new technologies in the 21st century. To find out more about options for training in your business, don’t hesitate to call the Chamber on 01202 714800.