West of England Local Enterprise Partnership Employer ... · PDF fileWest England office: Unit 5.2, Paintworks, Arnos Vale, Bristol, BS4 3EH London office: Research House, 51 Portland

October 2016

West of England Local

Enterprise Partnership

Employer Skills Survey 2016

Wavehill Ltd.

Wales office: 21 Alban Square, Aberaeron, Ceredigion, SA46 0DB (registered office)

West England office: Unit 5.2, Paintworks, Arnos Vale, Bristol, BS4 3EH

London office: Research House, 51 Portland Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2SH Contact details: Tel: 01545 571711 Email: [email protected] Twitter: @wavehilltweets More information: www.wavehill.com https://twitter.com/wavehilltweets © Wavehill Ltd. This report is subject to copyright. The authors of the report (Wavehill Ltd.) should be acknowledged in any reference that is made to its contents.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.wavehill.com/

https://twitter.com/wavehilltweets

Authors: Andrew Engeli Jessica Irving Any questions in relation to this report should be directed in the first instance to Oliver Allies ([email protected]). Date of document: November 7th 2016 Version: Final Client contact: West of England Local Enterprise Partnership Name here: Marina Traverasri Contact details here: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Acknowledgements We would also like to thank the many individuals who gave their time to assist in the evaluation, including Marina Traversari, Pearl Mills and Adam Powell, all of whom were important in the writing of this report. This evaluation would not have been possible without all of these contributions.

List of abbreviations

LEP Local Enterprise Partnership

SME Small or Medium Enterprise

FE Further Education

HE Higher Education

FEI Further Education Institution

HEI Higher Education Institution

Contents Contents ..................................................................................................................................... ii

1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Survey Methodology ................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Survey Response Rates................................................................................................ 2

1.3 Geography of Respondents ......................................................................................... 4

1.4 Structure of the Report ............................................................................................... 6

2 Firmographics .................................................................................................................... 7

2.1 Business Size ................................................................................................................ 7

2.2 Age Composition ....................................................................................................... 10

2.3 Nature of Business .................................................................................................... 12

2.4 Longevity ................................................................................................................... 13

3 Vacancies and Recruitment ............................................................................................. 14

3.1 Vacancies ................................................................................................................... 14

3.2 Hard-to-fill Vacancies ................................................................................................ 16

3.3 Recruitment ............................................................................................................... 22

3.4 Business Impact of Hard-to-fill Vacancies ................................................................. 24

3.5 Approaches to Staff Recruitment .............................................................................. 26

3.6 Equality and Diversity ................................................................................................ 28

4 Skills .................................................................................................................................. 35

4.1 Demand ..................................................................................................................... 35

4.2 The Impacts of Skills Gaps ......................................................................................... 38

4.3 Perceived Skills-related Challenges ........................................................................... 42

4.4 Digital Skills ................................................................................................................ 45

4.5 Future Skills Needs .................................................................................................... 50

5 Training ............................................................................................................................ 53

5.1 Training Demand and Delivery .................................................................................. 53

5.2 Training Demand and Business Size .......................................................................... 56

5.3 Experience of and Attitudes towards Training.......................................................... 58

5.4 Training Suppliers Used by Businesses ..................................................................... 60

5.5 Barriers to Arranging Training or Development........................................................ 61

6 Working with Further Education and Higher Education ProvidersError! Bookmark not defined.

6.1 Engagement with FE and HE ..................................................................................... 64

6.2 Working with Training Providers ............................................................................... 67

7 Apprenticeships ............................................................................................................... 70

7.1 Attitudes towards Apprenticeships ........................................................................... 70

7.2 Future Intentions ....................................................................................................... 76

7.3 Upskilling through Apprenticeships .......................................................................... 78

8 Progression of Skills in the Workforce since 2015 ........................................................... 81

8.1 Vacancies and Recruitment ....................................................................................... 81

8.2 Skills Gaps and Requirements ................................................................................... 81

8.3 Training ...................................................................................................................... 82

8.4 Working with FE and HE ............................................................................................ 83

8.5 Apprentices ............................................................................................................... 83

8.6 Continuity, progression and slippage ........................................................................ 83

9 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 85

Appendix 1 ............................................................................................................................... 86

West of England Employer Skills Survey 2016 Final Report (draft version)

i

Executive summary A total of 1509 businesses were surveyed across the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area, making this one of the largest and most representative regional employer skills surveys undertaken to date. Responses were collected from all geographical and administrative areas covered by the local enterprise partnership, and were analysed to provide sector by sector comparisons as well as by local authority and by urban-rural business location. Key findings of the report include;

About half of the businesses surveyed had at least one vacancy in the past 12 months, with the mode being two to four per business. Of those businesses with vacancies, nearly half reported that they have experienced difficulty in filling them, with two-thirds of those citing skills shortages as one of the principal reasons for having recruitment difficulties

The evidence suggests that there is no major problem with numbers of applicants, but rather that employers feel that the issue lies with not having the right applicants.

Recruitment has focussed heavily on experienced or skilled workers and those over 50, pointing to the barriers faced by those with less experience or new to the workforce.

Hard-to-fill vacancies have a discernible impact upon businesses, notably in the form of increased workloads for current staff and lost market opportunities.

Just over one third of businesses surveyed have formal equality and diversity plans, and many of those offer flexible working arrangements in support of those policies.

There is an identified skills gap in the workforce in the West of England LEP that is somewhat higher than the UKCES average reported for the UK in 2015.

Skills gaps are primarily technical skills that are sector-specific in nature, with implication for skills training and upskilling programmes. The impact of those skills deficiencies can be seen by the fact that the majority of respondents ranked sector-specific technical skills as the most important to business growth.

Specific (non-sector) skills needs identified by employers include a wide range of items, but literacy, numeracy and basic IT skills remain prized.

Digital and IT skills are not seen by many as a major barrier to the recruitment of young people. When asked about future skills needs, the two greatest concerns are the increased need for digital skills, and changes in the regulatory framework.

Workforce training is commonplace across the West of England LEP area, concerning over 70% of businesses surveyed; there is a correlation between training provision and business size.

Job-specific training continues to be the most commonly provided form of training to the current workforce, with a relatively uniform pattern across sectors.

Eight out of 10 businesses who have provided training did so through external training providers, and the high levels of satisfaction with those providers expressed by respondents attest to the quality of training programmes available across the LEP area.

Training is still seen as costly and time-consuming by some businesses, suggesting that there are still barriers that continue to hamper workforce development.


ii

There is a quantifiable relationship between area businesses and colleges and universities in the region, with about one quarter of those surveyed having some form of relationship with an FE/HE provider.

Where businesses do not have existing relationships, there is an appreciable interest in having them, although our survey indicated that many businesses that would like to develop closer links to education providers see barriers to doing so.

In general, levels of satisfaction with training programmes provided through FE and HE are high, although there are some identifiable concerns in some areas and sectors.

Apprenticeships form an essential building block in the construction of a skilled and trained workforce, and are a key component of the strategy that the central government has laid out for easing workforce entry and transition.

Within the West of England, there is a core group of employers who use apprentices as part of their business delivery model.

While two-thirds of employers have no plans to engage apprentices in the near future, there is a sizeable number who say that they are considering it, and a further non-negligible group who are not sure.


1

1 Introduction The annual West of England LEP Business Skills Survey seeks to understand the skills gaps and future skills needs of businesses across the West of England. The findings are used to inform the LEP's Skills Strategy, shaping the city region's skills infrastructure and supporting businesses in accessing the right talent. In its suite of latest Local Sector Skills Statements, the LEP has identified five priority themes:

Improve careers education, information, and advice & guidance

Improve the quality and local responsiveness of education and training

Increase apprenticeship starts and improve access to higher and degree apprenticeships

Engage SMEs to boost productivity and build capacity for growth

Promote pathways for employment to enhance equality and diversity in the workforce

Supporting the LEP's vision to develop a future workforce with the right skills, at the right levels to meet the needs of business now and in the future, the research is tasked with the following objectives:

1. Providing insight into future skills needs for the LEP area 2. Helping to identify current skills needs and gaps — particularly in the key sectors

identified by the LEP 3. Providing intelligence to ensure that individuals are not 'left behind', i.e. improving the

employability of local people — especially young people 4. Illuminating ways to ensure that skills provision across the LEP is better matched to all of

the above. The West of England LEP has laid out a vision of creating 95,000 new jobs in the region by 2030, critical job creation in light of the continued above-average population growth that it has experienced over the last few years. As part of this vision, the LEP has committed to:

Shaping and directing the college offer to employers — the LEP aims to improve the quality, relevance and impact of the most significant providers of initial training and upskilling in the area through its four FE colleges.

Sharing labour market intelligence — it aims to improve the extent to which it presents a single coherent and usable assessment of business demand to enable providers to respond effectively.

Improving employability — the LEP aims to focus in particular on ensuring that young people aged 16–24 have the best opportunity to get a job locally and are not hampered by the lack of work-readiness skills.


2

Supporting business–provider collaboration — the LEP is a business-led body and its aim is to make it easier for businesses to locate, access and invest in training for their business. More specifically, its aim is to create, through sector groups, the opportunity for businesses to work alongside providers in developing the provision that they need.

Results of the previous (2015) survey helped to inform the development of a detailed programme of actions with local FE colleges, including new, locally tailored careers information resources for schools. The findings from this current survey will continue to inform the engagement of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership with FE and HE, and will also provide valuable insight into apprenticeships in the run-up to the implementation of the Apprenticeship Levy by Central Government in April 2017. Findings have also been used to inform local and national skills strategies with government, funders, sector skills councils, and other agencies. Data from the survey will be published within the 2017/18 Skills Plan. Finally, the West of England LEP is particularly interested in skills and training patterns and needs across sectors that are highlighted in the 2016 Skills Plan. These sectors are:

Advanced Engineering and Aerospace

Construction & Development

Creative & Digital

Distribution & Logistics

Health and Life Sciences

High Tech

Low Carbon

Professional, Financial, and Legal Services (PFLS)

Retail

Rural & Food Economy

Visitor Economy

Section summary The West of England LEP Employer Skills Survey has been designed as a bespoke survey to give detailed insight into skills demands, needs, training, and provision across the LEP area. The survey complements and adds to national employer skills surveys, and provides a representative sample from which to draw robust analytical conclusions.

1.1 Survey Methodology

The 2016 West of England Employer Skills Survey builds upon the legacy of the 2015 West of England ESS that mapped skills demands and needs across a range of sectors, and constitutes one of the largest and most comprehensive regional skills surveys undertaken to date. The survey features a number of key questions important to local economic growth and draws on questionnaire tools utilised in previous national research into employer skills needs undertaken by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES). Where possible, the wording structure was retained from the UKCES, in order for direct comparisons to be drawn between the two surveys. The survey was a mixed-mode exercise, with businesses being engaged either by telephone or through an email invitation to complete an online version. All telephone interviews were undertaken by the Wavehill Research Team, based in Aberaeron, Ceredigion, using an


2

industry-standard CATI protocol. Online survey invitations were sent out through the West of England LEP Employer Skills Survey project management team, using an in-house proprietary CRM database. Full details of the survey methodology are presented in Annex A of this report.

1.2 Survey Response Rates

The 2016 West of England Employer Skills survey reached 1509 businesses located in the LEP area through a mix of telephone and internet survey techniques. This sample size yields a confidence interval of +/- 1.5% at the 95% level or +/- 3% at the 99%, and affords a level of statistical precision not available with smaller sample sizes. The telephone survey was undertaken using a sample of approximately 14,000 businesses located in the West of England LEP that were identified through the IDBR and for which Dun and Bradstreet were able to supply the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code, a named decision maker, and a viable telephone contact number; all businesses in the sample were contacted at least once. The telephone survey was opened in mid-June 2016, and was closed in mid-September 2016, and achieved a total of 1401 completed responses, a rate of approximately 10%. It should be noted that the UK referendum on EU membership occurred just after the telephone survey had opened, and the unanticipated result and the consequent uncertainties in the business environment slowed response rates (compared to previous business surveys undertaken by Wavehill and compared to the first two weeks of the survey prior to the vote), and may have contributed to a slightly lower response rate overall. The online survey was fielded by the West of England LEP, supported by the Wavehill online survey platform, and received a total of 110 completed questionnaires.1 As the survey invitation to participate in the online version was also distributed via e-newsletters and other circulars, it is not feasible to calculate an overall response rate for this version of the survey. Finally, two respondents contacted by telephone requested the option to fill out an online version — these have been added to the online total. Thus, the reporting below is based on an overall total of 1509 responses, making this one of the largest regional employer skills surveys undertaken to date. Overall, online survey responses accounted for approximately 7% of the overall sample. However, there was some quite significant variation by sector, which is shown in Figure 1.2.1 below.

1 For the purposes of this report, a completed questionnaire in the online version of the survey is one where the respondent clicked on the Submit button for the survey, thus implying consent for the survey data to be used for research and analysis.


3

Figure 1.2.1: Proportion of responses by survey mode2

For example, virtually all of the responses for the Low Carbon sector (97%) were achieved through telephone contact, whereas approximately one quarter of the responses within the Health and Life Science sector came through online reporting. While the core questions in the two versions of the survey were identical — thus eliminating any impact of the survey mode upon the reliability and validity of the reporting — the online sample was not geographically compiled, limiting our ability to (a) stratify that sample and (b) utilise robust geolocators, except where postcode verification was possible through self-reporting.

2 In this chart, and in the body of this report, the ‘Other’ group refers to businesses that could not be placed within a defined sector through the use of SIC code classifications. In general, this occurred when survey respondents rejected the SIC code classification on file for them (telephone survey) or did not supply a SIC code or activity description (online survey). A breakdown of this group is shown in Appendix 1.

220

42

18

71

150

8

183

1401

138

134

223

157

57

3

14

5

12

22

1

17

109

9

8

10

6

2

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Other

Health and Life Science

Food Technology

Advanced Engineering & Aerospace

Professional & Legal Services

Distribution

Creative Industries

Overall

Tourism

Construction

Retail

High Tech Industries

Low Carbon

Telephone Web


4

1.3 Geography of Respondents

The West of England LEP contains four unitary authorities within its boundaries:

Bath & North East Somerset (BANES)

Bristol

North Somerset

South Gloucestershire The telephone survey was stratified in order to ensure a balanced and representative geographic coverage, which is of great importance to the West of England LEP in ensuring that the objectives of the report are met, especially with regard to understanding the skills challenges and needs of employers across the whole area. The stratification of the sample was undertaken using the number of businesses in each area reported in the IDBR. The comparison of the geographic weight of businesses by area in the sample compared to the IDBR is shown in Table 1.3.1 below; the P value of .997 indicates that there is less than a 1% chance that the sample does not accurately reflect the geographic profile of the West of England LEP. Table 1.3.1: Breakdown by LEP area

Survey

IDBR

n %

n

%

Bristol 592 39.7%

16,635

39.4%

South Gloucestershire 320 21.4%

9,400

22.2%

B&NES 300 20.1%

7,825

18.5%

North Somerset 279 18.7%

8,355

19.7% Base: all respondents with available postcode data (N = 1491) P value = .99758

The Rural-Urban Classification (ONS, 2011) is an Official Statistic and is used to distinguish rural and urban areas. It is designed to assist the examination of social and economic variation with respect to population distribution and the physical character of the settlements in which residents live. The Classification defines areas as rural if they fall outside of settlements with more than a 10,000-resident population. As shown in Figure 1.3.1 below, while rural Lower Super Output Areas form the greater part of the surface area of the LEP, approximately 89% of LSOAs in the West of England are classified as urban.


5

The rural economy is a priority for the West of England LEP, as it is estimated that over 53,000 jobs are located in rural areas, and maintaining those jobs and a thriving rural economy is a challenge in close proximity to Bristol. The West of England has established the Rural Economy Sector Group to address the question of rural-specific business needs, demands and priorities, and the ability to isolate such questions in survey reporting is paramount to the LEP. The breakdown of survey respondents by urban-rural sector is shown in Table 1.3.2, with 14% of the sample for whom postcode data was available being located within postcodes that are designated as falling within a rural Lower Super Output Area as classified by the ONS, which is a close mirror of the urban/rural geography discussed above. Table 1.3.2: Distribution of respondents by type of Lower Super Output Area (urban/rural) in which the business is located

n %

Urban 1200 86%

Rural 203 14% Base: all respondents with available postcode data where records could be matched to ONS data (N = 1403)

Figure 1.3.1: West of England Urban-Rural Output Area


6

1.4 Structure of the Report

In the report, we will analyse the survey data that we have collected across themes that are of paramount importance to the West of England LEP in mapping skills demands, needs and provision. After presenting information about the businesses that responded (firmographics), we will turn to an analysis of Skills, followed by Training and then Vacancies and Recruitment. Then we will look at the provision of skills training by and relations with Further Education and Higher Education establishments. Following that, we will analyse the provision and performance of apprenticeships across the LEP area. Finally, we will conclude the report with a summary of the key sector and geographical findings, and some recommendations to help guide the skills provision policy actions of the LEP as it moves towards shaping the skills statement for 2017.


7

2 Firmographics The ability to understand the skills and training needs across a wide range of business types — by size, type of economic activity, and primary markets — lies at the heart of the 2016 West of England Employer Skills Survey. In this section below, we explore the firmographic information collected through both telephone and online surveys, and map the profile of the respondents to the survey. Section summary The 2016 West of England ESS surveyed 1509 businesses across the LEP area. The analysis of the firmographics indicates that the survey achieved a good cross-section of businesses that is representative of the business population of the area as a whole, with a limitation on the number of sole proprietorships and/or single employee firms. There is a strong representation of the nine sectors in the survey data. Our data show that micro-firms tend to have an older workforce, with the average age of employees being lower in SMEs and larger businesses. The majority of our sample have been based in the LEP area for two years or more.

2.1 Business Size

The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership is currently home to over 42,000 businesses that have been identified in the latest version of the IDBR (2015). Collectively, those businesses employee 375,000 full-time and 181,000 part-time employees. The size breakdown of businesses in the West of England LEP is shown in Figure 2.1.1. Figure 2.1.1: Size profile of businesses in West of England LEP by employees (2015)

Source: Nomis


8

The majority of those businesses, over 32,175 of them, are defined as micro-businesses (0–4 employees), and of those, nearly 8,000 are legally registered as sole proprietorships. The survey sampling strategy called for a proportionate weighting that would (a) eliminate businesses with no employees and no plans to employee anyone from the sample, and (b) ensure a strong representation of multi-employee businesses in the report. The size breakdown of all businesses responding to both telephone and online surveys is given in Figure 2.1.2 below. Figure 2.1.2: Size profile of businesses responding to 2016 WoEESS

Base: all respondents (N = 1509)

Figure 2.1.3: Size profile of businesses responding to 2016 WoEESS by sector

8%

34%

26%

20%

6%3%

2% 1%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

1 2 to 4 5 to 9 10 to 24 25 to 49 50 to 99 100 to 249 250 ormore

80

185

120

140

44

121

22

15

6

143

99

48

57

41

42

70

11

35

19

3

1

45

39

23

10

7

9

13

4

6

15

5

2

12

4

11

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Tourism

Retail


Other

Low Carbon



Food Technology

Distribution

Creative Industries

Construction


(note: in-bar figures refer to total numbers of respondents)

Micro SME Large


9

As can be seen, the sampling strategy that we employed (quota sampling) ensured a balance between micro-businesses, SMEs, and employers with larger numbers of employees. Comparing the Nomis/IDBR counts with our sample, larger businesses (those with 25 employees or more) are represented at about the same proportion as in the general business population. Below 25 employees, our sampling strategy ensured that:

Businesses in the 2–4, 5–9, and 10–24 bands are represented at approximately the same relative proportion to each other as in the Nomis/IDBR general population count.

A sample of one-employee businesses was retained (8% of the overall total), which included businesses that either had recently employed others but had to reduce their workforce or were intending to hire in the near future.

Sole proprietorships without employees and with no intention of hiring were eliminated from the sample.

From the data, it can be seen that the majority of businesses surveyed comprised two to four individuals working at the site of survey (34%; n = 511), but that over half of the survey respondents are from businesses that have five or more employees, ensuring that there is a robust evidence base upon which to analyse the skills and training patterns and needs of West of England businesses. Overall, our sample covered approximately 3.6% of the businesses that together account for 29,410 employees, or approximately 6% of the full- and part-time workforce of the LEP area. Of the 1509 businesses that responded to the survey, 1252 (83%) are the only establishment in the organisation; the remaining 17% are one of a number of establishments within a larger organisation. The enterprises represent a special class, as:

They are part of a multi-site organisation, whose other sites may lie outside the West of England, the South West, England, or even the UK.

Recruitment, training and upskilling practices may or may not be determined from within the site that responded to the survey.

Figure 2.1.3 presents the employee size breakdown of this n group. The largest proportion of respondent businesses in this group were SMEs employing between 10 and 49 individuals (27%; 68/255). Fifty-two per cent (n = 132/255) of respondents based within multi-site businesses are located at the Head Office of the organisation. Notably, 5% (n = 14) of businesses contacted have headquarters based outside of the UK.


10

Figure 2.1.4: Approximately how many people work in your organisation across the UK as a whole?

Base: all respondents who reported from an establishment forming one of a number within a larger organisation (n = 255)

2.2 Age Composition

Our survey methodology included questions that allow us to estimate the overall age distribution of the workforce in the businesses that responded to our questionnaire. The distribution is shown in Figure 2.2.1. The average age of the workforce reflected in our sample is 42, although the heavy tail at the higher end of the age distribution reflects an ageing within the smaller businesses in the respondent sample. Figure 2.2.1: Distribution of average age of workforce per business

Base: respondent businesses able to provide age data (N = 1455)

20%

27%

22%

12%9% 10%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Under 10 10 to 49 50 to 249 250 to 999 1,000+ Don’t know


11

The average age of businesses broken down by the number of employees (banded) is shown in Figure 2.2.2. As surmised, the age structure of the employees of SMEs decreases proportionally with an increase in business size; of relevance to the analysis of skills priorities and needs is that it would indicate that larger firms are more likely to have younger employees and to be recruiting from younger age pools. We will return to this point in chapter 5 of this report. Figure 2.2.2: Average age of employee per business size category

For comparison purposes, we broke the average age down by sector, and this information is displayed in Figure 2.2.3. Sectors with a higher-than-average age distribution include Food Technology, Advanced Engineering and Aerospace, and Professional and Legal Services, while on the other end of the spectrum, Health and Life Science, Distribution, and Tourism all had lower-than-average age distributions. Figure 2.2.3: Average age of workforce per sector

Base: respondent businesses able to provide age data (N = 1455)

39

39

41

41

41

42

42

42

42

43

43

44

46

36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

Tourism

Distribution


Construction

Retail

Low Carbon

Overall


Creative Industries

Other



Food Technology

50.5

44.140.7

38.6 37.8 37.7 39.1 38.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1 2 to 4 5 to 9 10 to 24 25 to 49 50 to 99 100 to 249 250 or more


12

2.3 Nature of Business

When asked to describe the nature of their business, 1,345 respondents (89%) identified it as making a profit, in comparison to 129 respondents (9%) who see themselves as charitable or voluntary sector organisations and a further seven (< 1%) who self-identify as public sector bodies (the remaining 29 businesses (2%) identified as ‘other’ or ‘none of the above’). Figure 2.3.1 shows the primary markets of those businesses in the survey who are predominantly profit-making entities. The largest portion of products and services of such businesses are sold locally (516/1471; 35%), with one in five businesses (20%) selling goods and/or services regionally, and one in seven (14%) engaged in the English market. A further one in five businesses (20%) sell their goods and/or services UK-wide, while just under one in eight (12%) classify themselves as primary export companies, serving international markets (170/1471). Of the seven public sector bodies, three served the local area, two operated regionally, one nationally, and the final one internationally. Figure 2.3.1: Are your products or services primarily sold…?

Base: all non-public sector bodies (n = 1471)

35%

20%

14%

20%

12%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Locally – within an individual town or

local area

Regionally – within a specific area of

England

Nationally – within England

Within the UK Internationally –outside the UK


13

2.4 Longevity

In order to understand and to weight responses of respondent businesses, particularly in the area of skills, training, and recruitment difficulties, we asked businesses whether they have been located in the West of England LEP area for more than two years (Figure 2.4.1). As can be seen, the vast majority of businesses surveyed have indeed been located within the West of England LEP for more than two years (96%), with little variation across the four LAs. Consequently, we can be reasonably sure that the data presented in this report reflects an informed perspective that captures the experiences and day-to-day realities of businesses that are working, operating, recruiting, and selling goods and services in the local area and beyond. Figure 2.4.1: Has your business been located in the West of England LEP for two years or more?

Base: all respondent businesses, excluding those who answered ‘don’t know’ (N = 1480)

Sector Snapshot

In our sample, the percentage of micro-businesses ranged from 80% in the Retail sector to just 40% in Health and Life Science

Large businesses accounted for about 25% of our sample in the Health and Life Science sector, but only 6% in the High Tech sector

This sector-by-sector size breakdown mirrors the general distribution of businesses within the LEP area, as reflected in the IDBR

The average age of the workforce for businesses in our survey is 42 years; the highest is in the Food Tech sector (46 years), whereas the youngest is in the Tourism sector (39 years)

LEP Area Snapshot

About 96% of the businesses surveyed have been in the LEP area for more than two years

There is variation across Local Authority areas covered by the West of England LEP in the longevity of businesses

94%

96%

96%

96%

97%

6%

4%

4%

4%

3%

N o r t h S o m e r s e t

O v e r a l l

B r i s t o l

B & N E S

S o u t h G l o u c e s t e r s h i r e

Yes No


14

3 Vacancies and Recruitment National figures show that there has been a substantial increase in the number of employers who are active in the recruitment market, whether having recruited in the recent past, intending to recruit in the near future, or currently having a staff vacancy.3 Equally, there has been an increase in the number of skills-related vacancies, and these vacancies are proving increasingly hard to fill for businesses and employers. In this chapter, we will map the pattern of vacancies and recruitment in the West of England, and link it to the perceived pattern of skills gaps and shortages that we will explore in greater detail in chapter 4 of this report. Section summary About half of the businesses surveyed had at least one vacancy in the past 12 months, with the mode being two to four per business. Of those businesses with vacancies, nearly half reported that they have experienced difficulty in filling them, with two-thirds of those citing skills shortages as one of the principal reasons for having recruitment difficulties; the evidence suggests that there is no major problem with numbers of applicants, but rather that employers feel that the issue lies with not having the right applicants. Recruitment has focussed heavily on experienced or skilled workers and those over 50, pointing to the barriers faced by those with less experience or new to the workforce. Hard-to-fill vacancies have a discernible impact upon businesses, notably in the form of increased workloads for current staff and lost market opportunities. Just over one third of businesses surveyed have formal equality and diversity plans, and many of those offer flexible working arrangements in support of those policies.

3.1 Vacancies

Reflecting the national trend, of the businesses surveyed for the West of England LEP, 805 (54%) have had vacancies in the last 12 months. Breaking these figures down by sector, there is quite a substantial variation across them. For example, about four out of five employers surveyed in Health and Life Science (80%) and Distribution (78%) have had at least one vacancy in the past 12 months, whereas the corresponding figure for High Tech Industries and Construction is almost half of that (44%).

3 UKCES Employer Skills Survey 2015, p. 31


15

Figure 3.1.1: Proportion of businesses by sector who had had vacancies in the last 12 months

Base: respondents with available data (N = 1502)

Looking across the four Local Authority areas within the LEP, the rate of vacancies reported is a little higher for the Bristol area (56%) than for B&NES (52%), North Somerset (51%), and South Gloucestershire (51%). Figure 3.1.2: Proportion of businesses by LEP area who had had vacancies in the last 12 months

Analysing the overall number of vacancies reported, there were a total of 7,811 vacancies reported across our sample, or a little over one for every four employees reported by the

44%

44%

47%

51%

51%

53%

54%

55%

56%

61%

67%

78%

80%


Construction

Low Carbon

Creative Industries

Other


Overall

Retail


Food Technology

Tourism

Distribution


56%

53%

52%

51% 51%

48%

49%

50%

51%

52%

53%

54%

55%

56%

57%

Bristol Overall North Somerset B&NES SouthGloucestershire


16

businesses in our sample (see chapter 1). There was a substantial variation in the number of vacancies reported by businesses responding to the survey, as shown in Figure 3.1.3; collectively, just 4% of the survey respondents accounted for over half of the reported vacancies, whereas 39% had one to four positions open. Figure 3.1.3: Approximately how many vacancies did your business have during the last 12 months?

One of the major policy drivers behind this skills mapping exercise is understanding the full dimensions of skills gaps in the workforce, which is based on (a) skills-based vacancies, (b) a lack of skills in the current workforce, and (c) a lack of qualified or skilled applicants for open positions. We will explore (b) and (c) in subsequent chapters, focussing on the first of these factors for the time being in the following sections.

3.2 Hard-to-fill Vacancies

Of the 805 businesses that had vacancies, 367 (46%) experienced difficulties in filling them. The survey revealed differences across sectors in the number of businesses experiencing difficulties in filling vacancies. Least difficulties were experienced by businesses operating in the sectors of Creative Industries, Tourism, and Retail. In contrast, businesses that experienced most difficulties were from the sectors of Advanced Engineering and Aerospace, Health and Life Science, and Food Technology. The most prominent difficulties were faced by the Advanced Engineering and Aerospace industry group, with nearly three-quarters (74%) of businesses able to answer reporting hard-to-fill vacancies.

46%

16%

23%

6% 6%

1% 1% 1% 1%0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

0 1 2 to 4 5 to 9 10 to 24 25 to 49 50 to 99 100 to 249 250 ormore


17

Figure 3.2.1: Proportion of businesses per sector that reported hard-to-fill vacancies (%)

Base: respondents who had had vacancies in the past 12 months and answered a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’ (N = 789)

Figure 3.2.2 presents the reasons given for difficulties in filling vacancies (multiple responses were allowed to this question). As shown, a lack of applicants with the required skills presents the most cited difficulty in filling vacancies (64%), indicating that there remains a wide gap between supply and demand for skilled employees across the LEP area, to which we will return in our discussion of skills needs in chapter 4 below. Other significant factors identified were the lack of attitude, personality or motivation (24%) and not enough applicants (23%).

36%

40%

41%

43%

43%

44%

47%

48%

49%

50%

58%

64%

74%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Creative Industries

Tourism

Retail

Distribution

Other

Low Carbon

Overall


Construction


Food Technology




18

Figure 3.2.2: What were the main reasons your vacancies were hard to fill?

Base: 367

Table 3.2.1 below reports some of the qualitative responses that illustrate the range of answers given to this question, placed into the response categories identified above. Table 3.2.1: Classification of responses to ‘What were the main reasons your vacancies were hard to fill?’

Low number of applicants with the required skills

The main [group] we struggled with is class 2 drivers because there is a skills shortage for people who have got that training. Younger people cannot afford the training fees, so the company has to sponsor them... There are more jobs than qualified drivers. There are 9 jobs to every one driver. This is a real problem for our transport department.

HGV2 drivers are quite hard to fill because the qualification has become very expensive so there is not so many of them around.

It's difficult because we work in emerging technology, as part of the nature of the work

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

11%

13%

16%

23%

23%

24%

64%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Change in government living wage policy/labourcosts (n = 1)

Seasonal employment (n = 3)

Don’t know (n = 6)

Poor career progression/lack of prospects in specificrole (n = 10)

Remote location / poor public transport (n = 15)

Job entails shift work/unsociable hours (n = 20)

Lack of qualifications the company demands (n = 40)

Too much competition from other employers (n =49)

Not enough people interested in doing this type ofjob (n = 58)

Low number of applicants generally (n = 83)

Other (n = 85)

Low number of applicants with the requiredattitude, motivation or personality (n = 89)

Low number of applicants with the required skills (n= 235)


19

there is a scarcity of suitable people who have had exposure to that technology. It's starting to change, but I think a lot of universities lack the specific courses for what we are doing. There is a lot of competition for the people we recruit on the market.

Not enough people interested in the type of role offered

[It’s] the nature of our business, we were looking primarily for ground workers but it's not a job people are interested in.

Some graduates who are unemployed think working here is beneath them.

My sector, Hospitality, is not attractive anymore to employees. I work very closely with colleges and go to open days. Out of 200 students who attended, only 4 asked about hospitality… People assume it is a stop-gap, not a career.

The importance of personality in an SME

For our positions like PA and admin, we needed somebody with a great skill set, but also with the right personality who would fit in with the team. I think that has been the challenging thing; office chemistry is vital to have within a small business like ours.

Personality is more important to us; obviously, you can have many people with the right skill set, but in a small business like ours, they need to fit in and be the right sort of person.

It's a very small company and I'm very selective and the candidates so far haven't had the 'fit' I'm looking for - it's mainly interpersonal/communication skills.

We're a small company and individuals need to be more proactive & fit in & most of the ones we saw didn't.

Remote location/poor public transport

Where our business is is an issue. We are in the middle of nowhere, a converted mills site. There is effectively no public transport; this restricts the amount of applications we get.

Salary offer We offered only minimum wage, as that is all that I could afford, this seemed to not be enough for some of the applicants.

Inflexible working patterns A lot of the applicants were single mothers and therefore could not work around the schedule that was needed.


20

Breaking the hard-to-fill vacancies figures down by sector, it is clear from Figure 3.2.3 that there is wide variation across sectors. More than three out of five (61%) of those in the High Tech sector who have experienced hard-to-fill vacancies stated that they have identified a lack of skilled applicants, whereas the corresponding figure was one in four (25%) for those in Food Technology. At the other end of the recruitment chain, there is not much evidence of the low number of applicants being a primary concern in any one of the sectors over the others, and we have noted that only 83 respondents in the entire survey see the low number of applicants as having an important influence on the number of hard-to-fill vacancies.


21

Figure 3.2.3: Main reason for hard-to-fill vacancies by sector

We show the data probing perceived reasons for hard-to-fill vacancies broken down by LEP area in Figure 3.2.4. While the variance is not huge, there is a greater perceived skills gap in South Gloucestershire than in the other areas, with the lowest gap being reported in North Somerset. Figure 3.2.4: Main reason for hard-to-fill vacancies by LEP area

24

28

29

30

8

30

17

3

1

25

20

20

11

15

12

9

3

8

6

3

9

4

9

10

13

7

14

1

8

9

1

1

12

6

3

7

13

12

8

3

3

10

5

5

7

10

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Tourism

Retail


Other

Low Carbon



Food Technology

Distribution

Creative Industries

Construction


(Note: in-bar figures refer to total numbers of respondents)


Low number of applicants with the required attitude, motivation or personality

Other

Low number of applicants generally

53

34

94

45

20

13

31

15

12

17

41

13

16

16

34

19

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

South Gloucestershire

North Somerset

Bristol

B&NES



Low number of applicants generally

Low number of applicants with the required attitude, motivation or personality

Other


22

3.3 Recruitment

Employers responding to the survey were asked what kinds of workers they had recruited into their open positions, and in Figure 3.1.4 we show the proportion of vacancies filled by experienced or skilled workers, broken down by Local Authority. Figure 3.3.1: LEP area breakdown of recruitment type (%)

As can be seen, the proportion of vacancies which were filled by experienced or skilled workers is highest in Bristol (72%) and lowest in North Somerset (55%), with B&NES and South Gloucestershire reporting slightly less than two in three employees recruited as experienced or skilled workers. Across our sample, this equates to approximately 5,200 experienced and skilled workers having been recruited in the past year; extrapolating to the West of England as a whole, we estimate from our results that approximately 75,000 experienced and skilled workers will have been taken on across the region. If we look at the other 2,600 workers (i.e. all of the non-experienced and skilled workers covered in the recruitment figures supplied by our respondents, or the green bars in Figure 3.3.1), we can see that the major portion of those recruited were workers over 50 — three out of four in Bristol (76%), two out of three in B&NES (67%) and South Gloucestershire (65%), and three out of five in North Somerset (59%). Connected to the pressing question of skills provision, we note the quite difficult route into employment for those seeking their first job; our figures suggest that they would account for about 100 of the 7,811 workers reported as having been recruited in the last year across our sample, or about 1,400 of the 110,00 (estimated) workers recruited across the LEP.

62%

55%

72%

63%

38%

45%

28%

38%



B r i s t o l

B & N E S

Experienced/skilled workers Other


23

Figure 3.3.2: Recruitment by type of recruit (all non-experienced/skilled workers)

We were interested in looking at the vacancy data using the Urban-Rural Classification that we discussed in chapter 1. What we were interested in is the percentage of businesses in either urban or rural areas who had employed any of the different types of new recruits. For example, slicing the data in this way produced no significant difference between the proportion of businesses that had filled vacancies with experienced and/or skilled workers (68% urban vs. 67% rural). However, there is a difference in the composition of other recruitment types (those analysed in Figure 3.3.1); the most dramatic difference is between urban and rural companies who filled vacancies with those new to employment (24% vs. 14%, respectively), with urban businesses more likely to have employed career starters. Although this is just one piece of evidence, it is, nonetheless, a tantalising glimpse at the difficulties faced by those new to the workforce seeking employment in rural areas. Figure 3.3.3: Percentage of urban/rural businesses who have employed at least one of the following recruits in the last 12 months…

2%

3%

4%

5%

7%

6%

8%

12%

65%

59%

76%

67%

19%

19%

6%

8%

3%

4%

2%

3%

4%

10%

4%

6%



B r i s t o l

B & N E S

Those new to employment Work place returners Those over 50

Apprentices University interns/placements Recent graduates

24%

14%

10%

9%

14%

16%

19%

25%

9%

11%

24%

25%

U R B A N

R U R A L

Those new to employment Work place returners

Those over 50 Apprentices

University interns/placements Recent graduates


24

3.4 Business Impact of Hard-to-fill Vacancies

Businesses that reported difficulties in filling vacancies in the past 12 months were asked to identify the impact of these against a pre-determined list of factors. Businesses could identify more than one response. As presented in Table 3.4.1 below, the most commonly cited impacts were increased workload for other staff (80%), delays in developing new products or services (32%), and increased operating costs (31%); these findings are consistent with the UKCES Employer Skills Survey (2015), which found 84% of respondents across the UK citing increased workload for other staff, 40% delays in developing new products or services, and 42% increased operating costs. However, in our survey, only 28% report experiencing difficulties in meeting customer service objectives, as compared to almost one in two in the UKCES survey (49%). Equally, employers in the West of England seem to have experienced fewer problems in meeting quality standards, introducing new work practices, and introducing technological change in relation to reports from businesses located in other areas of the UK. Table 3.4.1: Thinking now about all occupations in which you have hard-to-fill vacancies, are hard-to-fill vacancies causing this establishment to…

n %

Increase workload for other staff 295 80%

Delay developing new products or services 119 32%

Experience increased operating costs 112 31%

Have difficulties in meeting customer service objectives 104 28%

Outsource work 103 28%

Lose business or orders to competitors 96 26%

Have difficulties in meeting quality standards 81 22%

Have difficulties in introducing new work practices 62 17%

Have difficulties in introducing technological change 56 15%

Withdraw from offering certain products or services altogether 48 13% Base: 367

As can be seen from Figure 3.4.1, the impacts of hard-to-fill vacancies range across all sectors; in sectors that are service-orientated, such as Professional and Legal Services, Retail, and Tourism, it is unsurprising that there were wider margins for those who perceive the primary business impact as being increased workload for other staff, while increased operating costs are experienced disproportionately by technology-dependent sectors such as Health and Life Science, High Technology, and Advanced Engineering and Aerospace. Figure 3.4.1: Impacts of hard-to-fill vacancies by sector


25

In Figure 3.4.2 we present the same data for the LEP areas. As before, there is not a wide variation across areas, with the perception that the primary business impact of hard-to-fill vacancies is increased workload for other staff being reported at similar levels. That being said, this perception is about 10% higher in North Somerset than in South Gloucestershire, with B&NES and Bristol reporting similar levels to each other. Figure 3.4.2: Impacts of hard-to-fill vacancies by sector

This subset of businesses was then asked about the steps they have been taking to counteract these reported difficulties in recruiting. The two most popular responses focussed on increasing the reach of opportunities advertised; almost one in four (24%) have tried to widen

9

4

3

16

5

17

15

3

2

10

14

14

11

11

9

11

3

23

9

2

2

17

8

13

35

36

31

41

11

31

24

5

3

31

24

23

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Tourism

Retail


Other

Low Carbon



Food Technology

Distribution

Creative Industries

Construction



Experienced increased operating costs Delay developing new products or services

Increase workload for other staff

31

16

43

17

30

14

48

23

65

52

114

54

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%


North Somerset

Bristol

B&NES

Experience increased operating costs Delay developing new products or services

Increase workload for other staff


26

their reach through the use of new recruitment methods or channels, one in five (20%) have increased spend on advertising and/or recruitment strategies, and one in six (17%) have increased the training given to the existing workforce. Interestingly, as many as one in five have reportedly taken no action at all to overcome difficulties in recruitment. Table 3.4.3: What are you doing to overcome any difficulties in recruitment? (Open answer, coded response)

n %

Using NEW recruitment methods or channels 89 24%

Increasing advertising/recruitment spend 73 20%

Increasing the training given to your existing workforce 62 17%

Increasing salaries 57 16%

Being prepared to offer training to less qualified recruits 49 13%

Redefining existing jobs 46 13%

Bringing in contractors to do the work, or contracting it out 33 9%

Recruiting workers who are non-UK nationals 28 8%

Increasing/expanding training programmes 25 7% Base: 367

3.5 Approaches to Staff Recruitment

We were interested in how businesses in our sample respond to the challenge of recruitment of new employees, and what kinds of strategies they use to attract the best and most skilled recruits. When faced with the question of what their recruitment strategies might feature, even if those businesses are not actively recruiting at the moment, the most common cited activities are recruiting apprentices (11%), competitor analysis (10%), graduate recruitment (9%), and partnerships with the DWP/job centre (7%) and education and training providers (6%). In general, it is striking that there is not one (or more) relatively dominant recruitment strategy that characterises businesses across the West of England LEP.


27

Figure 3.5.1: Thinking about your approach to recruitment, even if you are not actually recruiting right now, what does (or would) it feature?

Base: 1509

A selection of typical responses to this question have been categorised and presented below in Table 3.5.1. Table 3.5.1: Categorisation of responses to the question ‘Thinking about your approach to recruitment, even if you are not actually recruiting right now, what does (or would) it feature?

Informal business networks I would probably use informal business networks. If that did not work I would advertise in professional magazines or online.

We try to meet people, it's a case of an unofficial head hunting type approach. We've tried advertising before and not been too happy with the applicants we received. We try target people we think are good to join the team. We met them through working on sites and meeting people everyday in the workplace.

Graduate recruitment Bath and Bristol Universities are not doing much to promote students… Students now have high salary expectations which is too expensive for our company. Local students are more likely to move to London on graduating.

We usually set up and advertise job vacancies through Bristol university, we go through a short list and an interview process.

Word of mouth strategies and preference for hiring

We are a small business so we advertise through channels we know.

2%

2%

6%

7%

9%

10%

11%

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12%

Recruiting from under-represented groups (E&D)

Support from Trade Associations

Working with Education and Training Providers toencourage a pipeline

Partnership with Job Centre/DWP

Graduate recruitment

Competitor analysis (e.g. salary, benefits, T&Cs ofother similar roles in other similar companies)

Apprentice recruitment


28

individuals already known to the company

Our recruitment tends to be sourced from individuals who we know.

It's primarily done through more of a networking base approach, seeing who we know who might know somebody.

I recruited my staff through word of mouth; I've never advertised. It's about getting the right person so it's been people I know and trust.

The role of the Internet in shifting recruitment from external agencies towards in-house recruitment

The quality of applicants is well below par via jobcentre, agencies are parasitic, and trade associations toothless. We live in a modern world; we find we get the best stream by advertising online, [like] Indeed, Gumtree. Job websites seems to be where the bright minded are looking.

We tend to do a lot of advertising ourselves on-line.

We advertise on Bristol Media - post on their job board, post it on our blogs and our social media platforms - Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, we offer incentives to staff to share on their social media & if they get an appropriate person they receive a bonus.

We use social media. We use Gumtree and EcoJam; most responses come from Gumtree.

We post job vacancies on bulletin boards and several sites to attract people in at a lower cost.

We tend to do it ourselves, we've tried the Job Centre but we've never really had any joy there. We post our own adverts via online recruitment agency sites like 'Fish for Jobs'.

3.6 Equality and Diversity

Of the 1509 businesses surveyed, just over one in three (36%) report having recruitment policies specifically relating to equality and diversity (E&D) (Figure 3.6.1 below). Figure 3.6.1: Do you have a recruitment policy relating to equality and diversity within your business?


29


We were interested in probing whether there is variation in E&D policies by sector, and as we show in Figure 3.6.2, there is quite a striking difference: in the Health and Life Science sector, 79% of our respondents (58) state that their business has an E&D policy, as compared to only 21% (168) in the High Tech sector. There seems to be a pattern between service and other sectors, with Tourism and Professional and Legal Services having above-average rates of E&D policies (45% and 38% respectively) and Retail having below-average rates (29%). We note that Distribution and Construction also display very low rates of E&D policies (22% and 29% respectively). Figure 3.6.2: Businesses that have a recruitment policy relating to E&D by sector


Probing the nature of those policies further, the majority of businesses that have E&D policies (n = 447, 82%) provide flexible working arrangements, such as working from home or job sharing, in support of their E&D policy (Figure 3.6.3).

36%

60%

4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Yes No Don’t know

21%

22%

29%

29%

30%

31%

32%

36%

38%

43%

45%

48%

79%

High Tech Industries (n=163)

Distribution (n=9)

Retail (n=233)

Construction (n=142)

Food Technology (n=23)

Creative Industries (n=200)

Low Carbon (n=59)

Overall

Professional & Legal Services (n=172)

Other (n=223)

Tourism (n=147)

Advanced Engineering & Aerospace (n=83)

Health and Life Science (n=56)


30

Figure 3.6.3: Do you offer flexible working arrangements in support of your equality and diversity policy?

Base: all respondents with E&D policies (N = 543)

When asked in an open-ended question if they have any priority areas within their E&D policy, the most typical responses involved non-discrimination and respect for diversity. As presented in Table 3.6.1 below, many of the answers simply stated that they do not discriminate. However, actual examples of steps taken to counter discriminatory practices were rarely cited. Table 3.6.1: Categorisation of responses to the question ‘Do you have any priority areas within your E&D policy?’

Non-discrimination

We do not discriminate, we treat everybody equally.

We make sure that we only hire the best qualified for the job.

We would look at everyone the same. There is no discrimination across the bar; both myself and the MD are classed as disabled.

Our policy is very basic, our policy states that no one will be discriminated against.

I think it’s pretty standard for a large organisation, equal opportunities etc.

We have a commitment to ensuring that there's no discrimination in our recruitment policy, but we don't have anything specific.

There's no priorities but we don't discriminate against anyone.

82%

15%

3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Yes No Don't know


31

It's not specific just obviously the normal, there's no discrimination.

We aim to make sure that no one is discriminated within the business, we advertise to a diverse labour market where relevant, we don't ask about health or disability before the job offers made, we make sure they're legally entitled to work in the UK and we monitor and support anyone with additional support needs.

Respect for diversity We would like in an ideal world to be more diverse, we acquire white ethnic in their forties. We would like to recruit more young people, however the skills shortage within the area makes it extremely challenging.

[We specifically recruit] Ethnic minorities… we work with gate keepers who have a diversity database, we have a list of gatekeepers in particular communities under priority areas and we post our job adverts out to them.

Our aim is to make our workforce as representative as possible to the community we serve…We tend to focus on recruiting from particularly under-represented communities in the local area.

Key areas of focus are flexible working, gender balance, diversity through monitoring ethnicity, disability. We also taking a fresh approach to things like LGBT and other such groups that are being driven from within where there is an interest to develop a forum that supports open dialogue.

Accommodating disability rights The 2 job roles I have available I wouldn't be able to take on a disabled person as it would be very


32

difficult to take on due to the nature of the work involved.

Flexible working patterns We are keen to try all policies as far as we can. We offer working from home as an option.

We have a few single parents who work at our company. We give them hours which are compatible with school hours.

Gender-friendly policies

We wouldn't discriminate; in fact, two of our employees are both returning mums.

Implementing E&D policies in SMEs [We have] no [E&D] priority as we are so small, we will take on [individuals] that are viable for our company, if they suit our business they will get the job.

Our business is too small to have a priority group. Also, we look for experienced and specific people… We just need to find the people with the right skills irrelevant of what category they fall into.

Businesses that specifically mentioned protected groups, or policies related to these, were in the minority. Spontaneous mentions of protected characteristics per respondent business are shown in Figure 3.6.4. Gender, discussed by 53 respondents, was the most frequently mention protected characteristic, followed by ethnicity (46 mentions) and disability (30 mentions). LGBT+ groups and religious beliefs rarely featured in answers. Figure 3.6.4: Spontaneous mentions of protected characteristics by businesses with E&D policies


33

Base: respondent businesses who had an E&D policy (N = 496) Again, there is quite a wide variation across sectors reflected in Figure 3.6.4. The sectors with the highest rate of flexible working arrangements on offer are Professional and Legal Services (91%), Health and Life Science (91%), and Creative Industries (90%); the lowest rates are displayed by Distribution (50%), Low Carbon (63%), and Construction (71%). In general, sectors can be classified as either high or low on take-up rates of E&D policies and also flexible working arrangements, as shown in Table 3.6.2. Figure 3.6.5: Businesses that offer flexible working arrangements in support of their equality and diversity policy by sector

Base: all respondents with E&D policies (N = 543)

11%

9%

6% 6%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

Gender Ethnicity Disability Age

50%

63%

71%

71%

75%

81%

82%

82%

85%

88%

90%

91%

91%

Distribution (1/2)

Low Carbon (12/19)

Construction (29/41)

Food Technology (5/7)

Retail (50/67)

Other (78/96)

Tourism (54/66)

Overall

Advanced Engineering & Aerospace (33/39)

High Tech Industries (30/34)

Creative Industries (55/61)

Health and Life Science (40/44)

Professional & Legal Services (60/66)


34

Table 3.6.2

Higher rates of E&D policies Lower rates of E&D policies

Higher rates of flexible working arrangements

Professional and Legal Services Health and Life Science Advanced Engineering and Aerospace

Creative Industries High Tech Industries

Lower rates of flexible working arrangements

Tourism

Retail Food Technology Construction Low Carbon Distribution

Sector Snapshot

Rates of vacancies are variable across sectors, being highest in Health and Life Science (four out of five businesses experiencing vacancies in the last 12 months), Tourism, and Distribution, and lowest in the High Tech (two out of five), Construction, and Low Carbon sectors

The most cited reason for vacancies being hard to fill is the lack of applicants with the correct skills, with this problem being highest in the High Tech sector and lowest in the Food Technology sector

The ordering of business impacts of hard-to-fill vacancies is uniform across sectors, with the primary one being increased workload for existing staff, being highest in the service-orientated sectors; other impacts cited are the loss of market opportunities and increased operating costs, which tend to be more prevalent in technology-driven sectors

There are marked differences between sectors in terms of both E&D policies and flexible working arrangements in support of those policies; however, the qualitative responses across all sectors show that there is not much specificity in those policies

Retail, Food Technology, Construction, Low Carbon, and Distribution all have lower rates of E&D policies and flexible working arrangements, while Professional and Legal Services, Health and Life Science, and Advanced Engineering and Aerospace have higher-than-average rates of both; Tourism, Creative Industries, and High Tech Industries are mixed

LEP Area Snapshot

In general, the patterns of recruitment and skills needs are fairly even across the four LEP areas

The recruitment of skilled workers, as a percentage of all workers recruited, is highest in Bristol and lowest in North Somerset

Workplace returners form a greater part of the recruitment pattern in Bristol and B&NES than in South Gloucestershire or North Somerset

This observation is balanced against the fact that rural businesses are statistically more open to recruiting apprentices and those new to employment, suggesting that opportunities for younger people may be greater in those areas

University graduates are being recruited at about twice the average rate of the other areas in North Somerset


35

4 Skills This section presents an overview of the businesses that responded to the survey in terms of their perception of the demand for skills, their needs for particular kinds of skills, difficulties that they are experiencing with skills provision, and their estimation of the impact that shortfalls in skills provision are having upon business performance. Section summary There is an identified skills gap in the workforce in the West of England LEP that is somewhat higher than the UKCES average reported for the UK in 2015. Skills gaps are primarily technical skills that are sector-specific in nature, with implication for skills training and upskilling programmes. The impact of those skills deficiencies can be seen by the fact that the majority of respondents ranked sector-specific technical skills as the most important to business growth. Specific (non-sector) skills needs identified by employers include a wide range of items, but literacy, numeracy and basic IT skills remain prized. That being said, digital and IT skills are not seen by many as a major barrier to the recruitment of young people. The data show little perceived change in addressing skills needs from two years ago. When asked about future skills needs, the two greatest concerns are the increased need for digital skills, and changes in the regulatory framework.

4.1 Demand

Of our sample, 315 respondents (23%) identified that they had some sort of skills gap; it should be noted that this is somewhat higher than the figure arrived at for the UK-wide average in the 2015 UKCES Employer Skills Survey, which shows that 14% of UK employers reported a skills gap, translating to 5 million under-skilled workers across the UK. Collectively, this businesses account for 10,580 employees represented in our sample. Applying the same approach, our figures suggest that there could be up to 89,000 full-time and 42,000 part-time employees in the West of England who lack the skills needed by their employers. Looking at the responses more closely, more than two-thirds (69%) of those who identified skills gaps located those gaps as being primarily sector-specific, while just over a third cited general business skills and knowledge as lacking and 17% are concerned about the lack of leadership and management skills.


36

Figure 4.1.1: Which of these skills, if any, were found to be lacking amongst applicants?

Base: 367 (note: does not amount to 100%, reflecting the possibility of multiple responses)

In Figure 4.1.2 we break down the perceived lack of (sector-specific) technical skills by sector, as a percentage of all businesses in that sector. While the overall average in the survey sample is 17% (i.e. just under one in six businesses overall identify sector-specific technical skills as an issue), it seems that there are particularly acute sector-specific skills gaps in Distribution (one in three respondents citing skills gaps), Advanced Engineering and Aerospace (just under one in three), and Health and Life Science (just over one in four). In contrast, there is a better sector-specific skills provision pattern in the Food Technology and Creative Industries sectors. Figure 4.1.2: Perceived lack of technical skills by sector

69%

35%

17%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Technical skills specific to thesector/role

General businessskills/knowledge

Leadership & management

13%

13%

15%

15%

15%

15%

16%

17%

18%

18%

29%

30%

33%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%



Other (33/224)

Tourism (22/147)

Retail (35/233)

Low Carbon (9/59)


Overall (253/1511)





Distribution (3/9)


37

What about the lack of general business skills and knowledge? The sector breakdown is shown in Figure 4.1.3; it should be noted that the response to this question across our whole sample was 8%, meaning that approximately one in 12 employers have the view that there is a skills gap in this area. Six sectors show higher-than-average perceived skills gaps led by Health and Life Science (one in six, 18%), followed by Tourism (one in seven), Food Technology (one in eight), Distribution (one in nine), Advanced Engineering and Aerospace (one in nine), and Retail (one in 10). Figure 4.1.3: Perceived lack of general business skills/knowledge

The particular deficiencies in skills perceived in the Health and Life Science sector are carried over into the area of leadership and management. Whereas only about one in 25 (4%) respondent businesses overall stated that they found skills to be lacking in this area, the figure rose to almost one in seven (13%) in the Health and Life Science field. Aerospace and Engineering also maintained the pattern of above-average skills gaps, with one in nine (11%) businesses identifying it as a problem; the same is true of Tourism (11%). At the other end of the spectrum, Low Carbon, High Tech, Retail, Creative Industries, Construction, Professional and Legal Services, and Distribution see lower-than-average skills gaps in leadership and management.

3%

5%

6%

7%

7%

8%

8%

10%

11%

11%

13%

14%

18%

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18% 20%

Low Carbon (2/59)




Other (15/224)


Overall

Retail (24/233)


Distribution (1/9)


Tourism (21/147)



38

Figure 4.1.4: Perceived lack of leadership/management skills by sector

4.2 The Impacts of Skills Gaps

In order to fully understand the consequences of skills demands and gaps that we identify in this report, we asked respondents to rank the three general skills categories discussed above (sector-specific technical skills, leadership and management, and generic business skills) in order of importance for business growth. Reflecting the data presented above, there is a strong tendency towards ranking sector-specific technical skills as most important to business growth, with two out of three respondents who ranked this item seeing it as the most important, followed by one in three ranking business and leadership skills, and just one in seven seeing generic business skills such as IT and administration as the most important to business growth. Coupled with the fact that the major concern for businesses identifying skills gaps is that of sector-specific technical skills, it seems clear that this is an area for intervention from skills providers and those seeking to improve the business environment in the West of England. Figure 4.2.1: Could you rank the following in terms of what you feel is more important to your business growth?

Base: 1490 (note: bars may not amount to 100%, as not all respondents ranked all of the options)

0%

1%

2%

3%

3%

3%

3%

3%

4%

4%

11%

11%

13%

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14%

Distribution (0/9)




Retail (6/233)


Other (7/224)

Low Carbon (2/59)

Overall



Tourism (16/147)


14%

33%

65%

45%

36%

19%

40%

32%

16%

Generic business skills (e.g. IT, admin)

Business leadership and management skills

Technical skills specific to the sector/role

1 2 3


39

Breaking these figures down by sector, it becomes clear that there is, in fact, quite a wide variation by sector, which is reflected in Figures 4.2.2–4. Sector-specific skills are seen as more important to business growth in Advanced Engineering and Aerospace, High Tech Industries, Low Carbon, Professional and Legal Services, Distribution, Construction, and Creative Industries, whereas in Health and Life Science, Tourism, and Food Technology there is the perception that leadership and management skills are most important to business growth. In none of the sectors are generic business skills such as IT and administration seen as paramount to business growth by a majority of respondents.

Figure 4.2.2: % who ranked technical skills as most important to business growth by sector4

Base: 1490

4 ‘Other’ non-priority sectors which ranked technical skills as most important comprise: C – Manufacturing (36/56); G – Wholesale and Retail Trade, including the repair of motor vehicles (1/2); J – Information and Communication (10/14); L – Real Estate Activities (1/4); N – Administrative & Support Services (25/39); P – Education (15/31); Q – Human Health & Social Work Activities (8/31); and S – Other Service Activities (37/45).

37%

38%

48%

54%

61%

65%

67%

69%

75%

76%

78%

87%

90%

35%

24%

39%

27%

22%

19%

15%

20%

0%

12%

14%

9%

6%

28%

38%

13%

19%

17%

16%

18%

11%

25%

12%

8%

4%

4%

Tourism


Food Technology

Retail

Other

Overall

Creative Industries

Construction

Distribution


Low Carbon



1 2 3


40

Figure 4.2.3: % who ranked leadership and management skills as most important to business growth by sector

10%

12%

13%

19%

21%

22%

32%

33%

35%

46%

57%

61%

64%

54%

41%

75%

49%

22%

39%

41%

36%

35%

31%

26%

24%

22%

36%

47%

13%

32%

57%

39%

27%

32%

30%

23%

17%

15%

15%



Distribution

Low Carbon


Construction

Creative Industries

Overall

Other

Retail

Food Technology

Tourism


1 2 3


41

Figure 4.2.4: % who ranked generic business skills as most important to business growth by sector5

5 ‘Other’ non-priority sectors included C – Manufacturing (15/56); L – Real Estate Activities (1/4); N – Administrative and Support Service Activities (7/39); P – Education (5/31); Q – Human Health and Social Work Activities (4/31); and S – Other Service Activities (3/45).

5%

5%

6%

8%

11%

13%

13%

14%

15%

16%

23%

25%

28%

48%

39%

69%

35%

40%

36%

39%

45%

55%

45%

43%

25%

45%

48%

56%

25%

57%

49%

51%

48%

40%

31%

39%

34%

50%

27%


Low Carbon



Creative Industries

Construction

Food Technology

Overall


Other

Tourism

Distribution

Retail

1 2 3


42

4.3 Perceived Skills-related Challenges

Moving on to specific skills challenges, respondents were asked to identify the most important current skills priorities of their business; telephone interviewers read out a list6 and respondents were asked to indicate all that are applicable. The overall findings for this question are presented in Table 4.3.1, ordered from the most to least identified items cited by respondents (multiple responses were allowed). Table 4.3.1: Thinking of the skills required in your business, please indicate your priorities:

n %

Basic numerical skills and understanding 1302 86% Knowledge of products and services offered by your organisation and organisations like yours 1188 79% Specialist skills or knowledge needed to perform the role 1199 79% Reading and understanding instructions, guidelines, manuals or reports 1160 77% Computer literacy / basic IT skills 1135 75% Knowledge of how your organisation works 1086 72% Solving complex problems requiring a solution specific to the situation 982 65%

Adapting to new equipment or materials 906 60%

Writing instructions, guidelines, manuals or reports 826 55% Manual dexterity, e.g. to mend, repair, assemble, construct or adjust things 685 45% More complex numerical or statistical skills and understanding 534 35%

Advanced or specialist IT skills 500 33%

Other 225 15%

Communicating in a foreign language 96 6%

Base: 1509 (note: multiple responses allowed)

6 In the online version, there was a multiple-response table with a simple ‘yes/no’.


43

The most cited skills requirements are basic numeracy- and literacy-related skills and specialist, sector-specific or market-related knowledge, followed by complex problem solving and the adaptation to new equipment or materials. On the other hand, communicating in a foreign language was hardly seen as a priority, with only 6% of the respondents identifying this from the options presented. Table 4.3.2 below presents the factors underpinning these patterns of priorities; respondents were asked to pinpoint the reasons for the choices that they had made on the preceding question. Table 4.3.2: Are the main reasons for the priorities you mentioned due to any of the following?

n %

Business growth 927 61%

The introduction of new technologies or equipment 633 42%

Increased competitive pressure 624 41%

The development of new products and services 587 39%

New legislative or regulatory requirement 523 35%

The introduction of new working practices 401 27%

Succession replacement/ageing workforce 281 19%

Other 157 10%

Don’t know 21 1% Base: 1509 (note: multiple responses allowed)

The most commonly cited factor influencing current skills priorities is business growth (three out of five respondents, 61%), followed by the introduction of new technologies (42%), increased competitive pressure (41%), and the development of new products and services (39%). Only one in five respondents (19%) see ageing and/or workforce replacement as influencing their current skills priorities in a major way, suggesting that workforce training and continuous professional development (CPD) programmes may be helping to bridge the gap between demand and supply of skills in the West of England LEP area (see chapter 5 below). Finally, businesses were asked whether it had become easier for their business to address skills needs now than it was two years ago, assessing whether the skills challenges for businesses have changed over time (Figure 4.3.1). There is a slim number (one in seven) who answered in the affirmative (things are easier) and the negative (things are harder), with the vast majority, seven out of 10 (71%), seeing the skills challenge as about the same as it was two years ago.


44

Figure 4.3.1: Is it easier for your business to address skills needs now than it was 2 years ago?

Base: all telephone respondents (n = 1335). Note: the question was limited to businesses that have been located in the LEP for more than two years — see Figure 2.4.1.

Nonetheless, there are some interesting variations by sector, which are displayed in Figure 4.3.2; sectors that identify skills needs as being harder to address than three years ago include Food Technology (29%), Health and Life Science (26%), and Construction, Aerospace and Engineering, and Distribution (all 17%). Figure 4.3.2: Ease of addressing skills needs by sector

In Figure 4.3.3, we examine the concerns about skills needs for the group of businesses in the survey who we were unable to classify in the sectors examined in this report (the ‘Other’

13%

71%

14%

3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Easier No difference Harder Don’t know

0%

4%

10%

10%

10%

11%

12%

13%

13%

13%

14%

17%

21%

83%

78%

72%

64%

79%

74%

59%

74%

73%

73%

74%

67%

68%

17%

17%

17%

26%

10%

15%

29%

13%

15%

14%

12%

15%

11%

Distribution


Construction


Other


Food Technology


Low Carbon

Overall

Retail

Tourism

Creative Industries

Easier No difference Harder


45

category), looking to see if there are any patterns within industry groups (standard SIC classification). The number of respondents in each category is quite low, so caution must be exercised while interpreting these results; however, it is noteworthy that in two groups, Education and Manufacturing, there is some concern that skills needs are harder to address today than two years ago. Figure 4.3.3: Ease of addressing skills needs by ‘Other’ broad industry groups

4.4 Digital Skills

Turning to a specific set of skills relevant to employers in the digital age, we asked respondents whether they have had difficulty in recruiting young people with the right technology skills for that particular business (note: the large proportion of ‘Not applicable’ denotes, for the most part, employers who have not recruited in the last 12 months; see chapter 5 below for a more detailed examination of vacancies and recruitment).

4

2

5

4

3

4

42

2

10

3

31

14

27

1

39

9

2

2

8

1

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

C - Manufacturing

G - Wholesale and Retail Trade including repair of MotorVehicles

J - Information and Communication

L - Real Estate Activities

N - Administrative & Support Service Activities

P - Education

Q - Human Health & Social Work Activities

R - Arts, Entertainment and Recreation

S - Other Service Activities

(Note: In-bar figures refer to total numbers of respondents)

Easier No difference Harder


46

Figure 4.4.1: How much difficulty have you experienced in recruiting young people with the right technology skills for your business?

Base: 1509

Of those that gave a directional response, more than two out of three (equalling 43% of the overall sample, including the ‘Not applicable’ and ‘Don’t know’ categories) do not see technology or IT skills as a barrier to the recruitment of young people into the workforce. However, there are some quite significant regional variations to this question, with North Somerset and South Gloucestershire experiencing rates of difficulty over twice as high as those of B&NES and one third higher than the Bristol area (Figure 4.4.2). Figure 4.4.2: How much difficulty have you experienced in recruiting young people with the right technology skills for your business? (by LEP area)

Base: respondents to whom the question was applicable (n = 944)

Breaking these figures for this question down by sector (Figure 4.4.3), we can see that there are, in fact, some quite significant differences in skills gaps and recruitment across them. Advanced Engineering and Aerospace and High Technology, in particular, have a higher-than-average rate of experiencing difficulties in recruiting young people with the right technology skills.

7%

12% 13%

30%

36%

2%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

A lot Some Not much None Not applicable Don’t know

6%

15%

29%

50%

10%

18% 19%

53%

15% 18% 15%

52%

15%

24%

18%

43%

11%

19%20%

50%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

A lot Some Not much None

B&NES Bristol North Somerset South Gloucestershire Overall


47

Figure 4.4.3: How much difficulty have you experienced in recruiting young people with the right technology skills for your business? (by sector)

Base: respondents to whom the question was applicable (n = 925) Nine out of 10 (90%) of West of England employers feel that basic knowledge of everyday technology (such as smartphones and computers) and how to use it is either ‘very important’ (n = 1038; 69%) or ‘somewhat important’ (n = 321; 21%) (see Figure 4.2.4 below). Figure 4.4.4: How important is it that all or most of your employees have at least some basic knowledge of how to use everyday technology?

0%

5%

5%

6%

9%

9%

11%

11%

15%

16%

17%

18%

20%

40%

20%

14%

24%

17%

17%

19%

14%

23%

12%

15%

28%

30%

40%

23%

19%

29%

20%

19%

20%

24%

31%

20%

10%

15%

23%

20%

52%

62%

41%

55%

55%

50%

51%

31%

52%

58%

39%

27%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Distribution


Tourism


Creative Industries

Other

Overall

Retail

Food Technology

Low Carbon

Construction



A lot Some Not much None

69%

21%

5% 4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Very important Somewhat important Somewhat unimportant Very unimportant


48

There is some significant variation by sector in these findings, which is reflected in Figure 4.2.5 below. In the High Technology sector, as it might be expected, 92% of respondents rated knowledge of everyday technology as Very Important (with a further 7% identifying it as Somewhat Important), which can be contrasted to the Tourism sector, in which only one in two (51%) employers see it as being of similarly high importance. Figure 4.4.5: Importance of everyday technology by sector

One standout finding from this sector-by-sector comparison is the fact that everyday technology is seen as being of lesser-than-average importance in the Health and Life Science sector, which (as was shown above) seems to have higher-than-average rates across all categories of skills gaps included in the survey. From this, we may conclude that while skills needs are evident in the Health and Life Science sector and may pose a particular challenge to the skills provision landscape in the West of England, those skills deficiencies will not be bridged by an increase in familiarity with everyday technology.

51%

52%

54%

55%

59%

63%

67%

70%

78%

83%

84%

85%

92%

33%

22%

31%

40%

23%

29%

25%

22%

11%

15%

14%

13%

7%

6%

26%

9%

5%

10%

8%

5%

5%

11%

3%

1%

2%

1%

10%

0%

6%

7%

4%

4%

2%

1%

1%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Tourism

Food Technology

Retail


Construction

Low Carbon

Other

Overall

Distribution



Creative Industries


Very important Somewhat important Somewhat unimportant Very unimportant


49

The importance of computer literacy and basic IT skills across the workforce is demonstrated in Figure 4.2.6. Overall, 75% of our respondents identified computer literacy and basic IT skills as a current priority, with nine out of 10 employers in Creative Industries (89%) and Advanced Engineering and Aerospace (87%) responding affirmatively to this question. Only in the Distribution sector is there less than an overall majority of employers who see this as a current skills priority (44%). Figure 4.4.6: Computer literacy/basic IT skills priorities by sector

Still thinking about the special case of digital skills, we can contrast the above findings with advanced or specialist IT skills, which is shown in Figure 4.2.7. Here, only one in three employers overall see advanced IT skills as a priority, with barely one in seven citing them as priority areas in Retail (15%), Health and Life Science (14%), Construction (14%), and Low Carbon (14%), and one in nine in the Distribution sector (11%). Clearly, there is a sharp distinction between generalist or basic digital skills that seem to be required across sectors in a modern, skilled workforce, and niche or specialist, advanced IT skills that are more relevant to some sectors and much less of a priority to others.

44%

59%

64%

65%

65%

74%

75%

75%

79%

82%

85%

87%

89%

Distribution

Low Carbon

Construction

Tourism

Retail

Food Technology

Overall

Other





Creative Industries


50

Figure 4.4.7: Advanced or specialist IT skills priorities by sector

4.5 Future Skills Needs

Businesses were asked about the ways in which they saw their skills needs changing over the next three to five years, captured in an open-ended question. The most commonly cited themes centred on (a) the need for businesses to be responsive to technological updates (32%), and (b) the regulatory background (18%). Thirty businesses also specifically mentioned the need for making more use of social media and other digital marketing platforms. Around two in five businesses (41%):

Were not sure if their skills needs will change

Were not sure how their skills needs will change

Specifically stated that they were unlikely to change.

11%

14%

14%

14%

14%

15%

17%

26%

33%

39%

47%

55%

80%

Distribution

Low Carbon

Tourism

Construction


Retail

Food Technology

Other

Overall



Creative Industries



51

Table 4.5.1 below reports some of the qualitative responses that are illustrative of the overall answers to this question, categorised by areas of concern for future skills needs. Table 4.5.1: Identification and classification of future skills needs

Legislation It all depends on how legislation changes and what new things are out there that I’ll have to develop my skills for.

I don't see [our skills needs] changing really. If anything, it will just be a case of me keeping up to date with any new legislation that comes out over the next few years.

Technology Specialist computer skills — within the professional occupations there's real bespoke software that we need training in as it develops and also management development.

Skills needs are changing all the time; it's really about keeping up with technology — that is our key drive.

Certainly, new technology and IT is becoming more and more relevant.

Social media and digital marketing Our issue is in terms of social media; we need to make more use of it, so we need to look into training.

Within marketing, social media is becoming critical now and that is a skills set with an ability to read/write for social media. With regard to updating websites, there's a lot of content creativity, so people need to be able to write well. We need people with really good writing skills.

Increased understanding and use of social media platforms for all staff, not just the communications team.


52

Sector Snapshot

There is wide variation in the perception of skills gaps across sectors

There are particularly acute sector-specific skills gaps in Distribution, Advanced Engineering and Aerospace, and Health and Life Science

In contrast, there is a better sector-specific skills provision pattern in the Food Technology and Creative Industries sectors

Sector-specific skills are seen as more important to business growth in Advanced Engineering and Aerospace, High Tech Industries, Low Carbon, Professional and Legal Services, Distribution, Construction, and Creative Industries

In Health and Life Science, Tourism, and Food Technology there is the perception that leadership and management skills are most important to business growth.

In none of the sectors are generic business skills such as IT and administration seen as paramount to business growth

Sectors that identify skills needs as being harder to address than three years ago at higher-than-average rates include Food Technology, Health and Life Science, and Construction, Aerospace and Engineering, and Distribution

There is some significant variation by sector in the perceived need for technology skills

In the High Technology sector, as it might be expected, knowledge of everyday technology is critically important, whereas in the Tourism sector, demands for technology skills are much lower

There is a sharp distinction between generalist or basic digital skills that seem to be required across most sectors in a modern, skilled workforce, and niche or specialist, advanced IT skills that are more relevant to some sectors and much less of a priority to others

Technology, social media and marketing, and changes in legislation are recurrent themes in business concerns about future skills needs

LEP Area Snapshot

Recruiting young people with the right levels of technology skills is harder in North Somerset and South Gloucestershire than in B&NES and Bristol


53

5 Training Workplace training programmes for current staff are widely seen as one of the key mechanisms for upskilling the workforce and, thus, responding to skills challenges and gaps and increasing business efficiency and productivity. The UKCES Employer Skills Survey has found that staff training and continuous professional development programmes are the most frequently utilised interventions on the part of employers seeking to respond to perceived skills gaps in their workforce. In this chapter, we explore the world of training and training programme provision in the West of England LEP. Section summary Workforce training is commonplace across the West of England LEP area, concerning over 70% of businesses surveyed; there is a correlation between training provision and business size. Job-specific training continues to be the most commonly provided form of training to the current workforce, with a relatively uniform pattern across sectors. Eight out of 10 businesses who have provided training did so through external training providers, and the high levels of satisfaction with those providers expressed by respondents attest to the quality of training programmes available across the LEP area. Nonetheless, training is still seen as costly and time-consuming by some businesses, suggesting that there are still barriers that continue to hamper workforce development.

5.1 Training Demand and Delivery

Our survey indicates that there is a clear preference towards staff training and workforce development, with seven in 10 (71%) businesses reporting that at least one of their staff had undergone some sort of training over the past 12 months. However, that figure is subject to substantial variation across sectors, the data for which is presented in Figure 5.1.1 below. Figure 5.1.1: Sector breakdown of training

62%

66%

67%

70%

71%

71%

72%

74%

74%

78%

80%

91%

100%

Retail

Creative Industries


Food Technology

Low Carbon

Overall

Tourism

Other


Construction



Distribution


54

Unsurprisingly, the prevalence of workforce training seems to be highest in those sectors that have indicated the greatest skills gaps and concerns about those gaps upon their business performance, namely Distribution (100%), Health and Life Science (91%), and Advanced Engineering and Aerospace (80%). Furthermore, above average for the take-up rate on staff training are Construction and Professional and Legal Services. On the other end of the spectrum, there is apparently a lower take-up rate of workforce development programmes in the Retail (62%), Creative Industries (66%), and High Tech Industries (67%) sectors, although the numbers indicate that there are still two out of three businesses in these fields who are routinely sending staff for workplace training and professional development. Investigation into the types of training or development activities reveals (Figure 5.1.2) four key themes that reflect the workforce training needs and priorities of employers:

Updating existing employee skills and qualifications

Training for new employees (basic and advanced)

Leadership and management

Health and safety Figure 5.1.2: Which of the following types of training have you arranged for staff in the past 12 months?

Base: 1065

14%

19%

23%

27%

45%

53%

62%

81%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Other

Advanced Induction Training

Supervisory

Management

Training in a new Technology

Basic Induction Training

Health and Safety/First Aid

Job Specific


55

Eighty-one per cent of the survey respondents have arranged job-specific training in the last year, indicating a concentration upon the upskilling and CPD of current employees in the existing workforce; this observation may be combined with the numbers — almost one in two respondents (45%) — who have arranged training in a new technology. Induction training — basic (53%) and advanced (19%) — also forms an important component of the training landscape in the West of England; about one in four respondents have arranged training in either management (27%) or supervision (23%). Finally, health and safety training, reassuringly, is clearly seen as important by employers in the area, with three out of five (62%)7 having arranged training in this area over the last 12 months. Figure 5.1.3: Training demand by sector

Base: 1065

7 Nonetheless, it should be noted that this figure is rather lower than the three in four reported in the 2015 UKCES Employer Skills Survey.

43

45

41

54

15

27

27

7

2

41

36

19

69

92

67

90

20

49

38

9

4

72

52

34

85

92

51

101

27

49

43

13

6

63

82

43

77

119

112

137

37

104

48

14

9

121

79

60

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Tourism

Retail


Other

Low Carbon



Food Technology

Distribution

Creative Industries

Construction



Management and supervisory Basic and advanced induction

Health and safety Job-specific and training in a new technology


56

5.2 Training Demand and Business Size

Figures 5.2.1–4 break down the themes identified in the section above by business size (employee numbers, banded). These data clearly demonstrate that there is a close correlation between the provision of training and business size; for example, only about one in 10 micro-businesses have engaged in the provision of management and supervisory training for their staff in the last 12 months, compared to almost nine out of 10 large businesses; moreover, just one in four micro-businesses have provided health and safety training (24%), compared to virtually all of the large businesses surveyed (96%). Figure 5.2.1: Basic and advanced induction

Figure 5.2.2: Management and supervisory

7%

17%

43%

56%

81%

92% 93% 91%

39%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


Overall

4%9%

19%

32%

61%

81%86% 86%

24%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


Overall


57

Figure 5.2.3: Health and safety

Figure 5.2.4: Job-specific and training in a new technology

13%

23%

42%

63%

84%

94% 96%91%

43%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%


Overall

33%

45%

62%

77%

89%94% 93% 95%

61%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%


Overall


58

5.3 Experience of and Attitudes towards Training

The survey also established the business infrastructure in place to identify training needs and support development. Of the 1509 businesses surveyed, the majority (55%) conduct an annual appraisal process of the workplace development of staff; nearly four in 10 (37%) have a business training plan, and one in four (24%) have a budget for training expenditure. Figure 5.3.1 below illustrates a clear trend between employee size band and the likelihood of having an established training plan, with approximately one in five micro-businesses having a training plan (22%), compared to seven out of 10 SMEs (70%) and almost nine out of 10 large businesses (88%). Figure 5.3.1: Businesses with training plans by employee size band

Base: N = 1476

The amounts estimated by businesses that they allocate to the implementation of their training plans are shown in Figure 5.3.2. The modal figure lies in the £1001–£5000 range, although this must be tempered by the observation that the response rate to this question was somewhat low, with only 330 respondents (22%) being able or willing to provide a figure. Thus, extrapolating from the information in the figure, only 3% of our survey respondents (46 businesses overall) were able to state that they have a training budget that exceeds £15,000 per annum.

10%

18%

37%

60%

69%

81%

89%86%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1 2 to 4 5 to 9 10 to 24 25 to 49 50 to 99 100 to 249 250 or more


59

Figure 5.3.2: Which of the following reflects your total allocated annual training budget for this establishment?

Base: all businesses with an annual training budget (n = 330)

As it might be expected, larger training budgets are associated with businesses with higher numbers of employees, reflected in the data presented in Table 5.3.1.

Table 5.3.1: Allocated annual training budget by employee size band

up to £500 £501–£1,000

£1,001–£5,000

£5,001–£10,000

£10,001–£15,000 £15,000+

1 17% 33% 17% 17% 8% 8%

2 to 4 20% 33% 35% 8% 0% 4%

5 to 9 9% 26% 51% 9% 3% 1%

10 to 24 8% 19% 40% 19% 5% 10%

25 to 49 0% 11% 38% 22% 19% 11%

50 to 99 0% 3% 30% 9% 9% 48%

100 to 249 0% 0% 11% 0% 11% 78%

250+ 0% 15% 0% 8% 8% 69%

Average 8% 20% 37% 12% 6% 17%

6%

16%

30%

10%

5%

14%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

up to £500 £501- £1000 £1001 - £5000 £5001 - £10000 £10000-£15000 £15000+


60

5.4 Training Suppliers Used by Businesses

Businesses were asked whether they had sourced training or staff development from external suppliers. Over eight out of 10 (82%) of these who responded to this question had been on training delivered by external companies, agencies or organisations during 2016. Of those, 94% had sought training through an independent training provider, compared with one in five (20%) through colleges and further education (FE) institutions and one in 10 (10%) through higher education (HE) institutions and universities. In the survey, we probed respondents’ satisfaction with the quality of the training provided by various outlets through the use of a four-point Likert scale. Figure 5.4.1 below presents the proportions of businesses ‘satisfied’ (‘very satisfied’ or ‘quite satisfied’) vs. ‘unsatisfied’ (‘somewhat unsatisfied’ or ‘very unsatisfied’). There was markedly little dissatisfaction with any of the three outlets. Figure 5.4.1: Overall, how satisfied are you with the quality of the training provided by:

Base: college and further education (n = 727); universities and higher education (n = 715); independent training providers (n = 789). ‘Not applicable’ responses have been omitted.

The results show that, in general, there are relatively high levels of satisfaction with external training options in the West of England. Independent training providers elicited the highest satisfaction ratings, with 98% of businesses (729/789) that had accessed this provision reporting themselves as being either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘quite satisfied’. These data are consistent across the Local Authorities, as shown in Figure 5.2.2 (a full analysis of the training relationship between business and education is provided in chapter 6).

98%

85%89%

2%

15%11%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

Independent training providers Colleges and further education Universities and higher education

Satisfied Unsatisfied


61

Figure: 5.4.2: % satisfied with independent training providers by LEP area

However, there is more variation displayed by satisfaction levels with independent training providers when viewed across sectors. While the overall levels of satisfaction are still high, there is a drop-off in the areas of Distribution (83%), Retail (87%), and Tourism (90%). Figure 5.4.3: Satisfaction with independent training providers by sector

5.5 Barriers to Arranging Training or Development

All businesses in the survey were asked in an open-ended question to identify any barriers that had prevented them from arranging training or development activities for their

100%

99%

98%

97%97%

95%

96%

97%

98%

99%

100%

SouthGloucestershire

North Somerset Overall Bristol B&NES

83%

87%

90%

91%

92%

92%

93%

93%

93%

94%

96%

97%

98%

75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 100%

Distribution

Retail

Tourism


Other

Overall


Construction

Food Technology


Creative Industries

Low Carbon



62

employees. The qualitative answers have been coded thematically, and the data are presented in Table 5.5.1 below. One-fifth (n = 299) cited financial barriers, with a further 19% (n = 286) mentioning a related aspect concerning the difficulties of sparing staff time. Businesses were least likely to mention shortfalls in the quality or availability of training provision as a barrier. One in two businesses (n = 750) reported that there were no barriers preventing them from providing training to their current staff. Table 5.5.1: What barriers, if any, have prevented your business from providing training to current staff?

n %

Lack of funds for training / training too expensive 299 20%

Can’t spare more staff time (having them away on training) 286 19%

Staff are now fully proficient / don’t need it 172 11%

Hard to find the time to organise training 89 6%

Other 88 6%

A lack of appropriate training/qualifications in the subject areas we need 54 4% Difficulty in finding training providers who can deliver training where or when we want it 45 3%

A lack of good local training providers 31 2%

Don’t know 24 2%

Lack of knowledge about training opportunities and/or suitable dates 21 1%

Staff are not keen 19 1%

Lack of provision (e.g. courses are full) 11 1% Base: all respondents (N = 1509)

Overall, the results seem to suggest that barriers to training lie more with the lack of resources and time than with any perceived deficiency in the supply of decent training providers and programmes.


63

Sector Snapshot

The prevalence of workforce training seems to be highest in those sectors that have indicated the greatest skills gaps and concerns about those gaps upon their business performance, such as Distribution, Health and Life Science, and Advanced Engineering and Aerospace

Induction training forms an important component of the training landscape in the West of England, but is fairly uniformly distributed across sectors

Health and safety training is highest in the Construction industry

While rates of satisfaction with training provision through external providers are generally high, there are slightly lower satisfaction rates in Distribution and Retail, indicating possible shortfalls in quality provision

LEP Area Snapshot

Satisfaction rates with skills training programmes are fairly evenly high across all LEP areas

There is little variation in the pattern of training provision across the West of England LEP


64

6 Engagement with Education Working with further education (FE) and higher education (HE) providers represents a huge potential for businesses and employers in guaranteeing a skilled pool of labour and a consistent and trained workforce. Indeed, this potential has been recognised within the FE and HE sectors, with bodies such as the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE) investing heavily in student engagement, outreach, and experiential learning. The ideal relationship between the private sector and FE/HE is a two-way, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial one; on the one hand, businesses may be involved with the pedagogical and learning (skills acquisition) process, through which education programmes may be better tailored to and aligned with the skills priorities of a competitive business sector, and on the other hand, businesses and enterprises may benefit from workforce training and professional development programmes offered through institutions of further and higher education. In this chapter, we map both of these directional relationships, and uncover some of the issues that stand in the way of a more seamless and efficient working relationship between businesses and FE/HE. Section summary There is a quantifiable relationship between area businesses and colleges and universities in the region, with about one quarter of those surveyed having some form of relationship with an FE/HE provider. Those relationships cover a diverse set of activities, located both in the workplace and on campuses and in educational settings. Where businesses do not have existing relationships, there is an appreciable interest in having them, although our survey indicated that many businesses that would like to develop closer links to education providers see barriers to doing so. Probing those barriers, we have identified opportunities for the LEP to be involved in fostering closer engagement. In general, levels of satisfaction with training programmes provided through FE and HE are high, although there are some identifiable concerns in some areas and sectors.

6.1 Engagement with FE and HE

In our sample, we found that about one in four (n = 410) of the 1509 responding businesses engage with schools, colleges or universities to support the development of employability in young people. A list of education institutions identified by employers is included in Appendix 2. The most common area of engagement was found to be offering work experience (internships, externships, etc.) to students in the course of their FE/HE studies (see Table 6.1.1 below). The engagement of businesses in the area of ‘experiential’ or ‘workplace’ learning is further evidenced by the numbers who have offered traineeships and/or apprenticeships (16%), providing hands-on activities (11%), visits to the workplace (11%), and industry projects (4%). Nonetheless, there are many areas of engagement which do not necessarily involve opening up the workplace to students from FE/HE, and which, we can surmise, represent outreach on the part of businesses, such as giving careers advice or talks (19%), mentoring young people (12%), carrying out mock interviews (10%), giving professional advice and support (7%), contributing to curricular development (7%), and various other assorted activities.


65

Table 6.1.1: Could you tell us a little more about the types of activities in which you are involved? (Open response, coded)

n %

Offering work experience 278 68%

Giving careers advice/talks 76 19%

Offering apprenticeships/traineeships 65 16%

Other 54 13%

Mentoring young people 50 12%

Providing visits to the workplace 45 11%

Providing 'hands on' activities for students 44 11%

Providing practical advice 43 10%

Carrying out mock interviews 39 10%

Giving professional advice and support 30 7%

Attending careers fairs 30 7%

Contributing to curricular development 29 7%

Offering CV/job application advice 26 6%

Delivering business workshops 25 6%

Advertising job opportunities 18 4%

Supporting 'Dragons' Den'-type activities 15 4%

Providing industry projects 15 4%

Presenting up-to-date careers information 13 3%

Business representative on governing bodies 12 3%

Organising industry days 8 2%

Offering sponsorship 8 2%

Offering teacher placements 6 1%

Allocating STEM ambassadors 6 1%

Leading assemblies 5 1%

Allocating business ambassadors 2 0% Base: all respondents that said they engage with schools, colleges or universities (n = 410)

Given the current desire of the FE and HE sectors to engage more fully with businesses and the private sector, we were interested in probing the desire of businesses to more deeply engage with the education sector and what the perceived barriers to doing so might be.


66

With regard to the first question, that of willingness to engage, approximately one in three (31%) of the 1099 businesses that do not currently engage reported that they would like to work more closely with schools and colleges, with a further one in seven (14%) undecided. Should this potential be tapped, it would translate to almost one in two of all businesses in the West of England LEP area engaged in some form of mutually beneficial activity with FE/HE providers, or an additional 7,500 businesses from the current business stock. Given this expressed desire to work more closely with FE/HE providers, what are the barriers that businesses encounter in doing so and which prevent them from taking up the offer? Unsurprisingly, as shown in Table 6.1.2, time limitations on staff emerged as the strongest barrier to engaging with schools and colleges, with three out of five (57%) respondents to this question citing them as one of the barriers between them and working more closely with FE/HE. However, beyond the obvious question of resources and time, the data provide evidence that the nascent engagement between the private sector and FE/HE could be strengthened by programmes that help to break down some of the barriers to closer ties; almost all of those expressing a desire to work more closely with higher education (93%) cited at least one of the following reasons for not doing so: they don’t know whom to contact, they have tried but the offer of support was not accessed, they perceive that FE/HE is not interested in their type of industry, they lack confidence in working with young people, or they have never really considered this type of activity. These findings indicate the strong potential for interventions to overcome the particular barriers to deeper relationships between business and the education sector. Table 6.1.2: What are the barriers to working with them?

n %

Time limitations/staff capacity 192 57%

Other 66 20%

Don't know whom to contact 63 19%

Never considered this type of activity 44 13%

Don't know what support to offer 43 13%

We tried but offers of support were not accessed 14 4%

Don’t know 11 3%

There's no benefit to my business 10 3%

Schools aren't interested in my industry 7 2%

Lack of confidence in working with young people 6 2%

Don't feel this is my responsibility 2 1%

Base: all respondents who had engaged with schools or colleges, n = 337


67

6.2 Working with Training Providers

What are the experiences of those who have engaged with FE/HE, in the form of receiving workforce training and professional development programmes? Looking firstly at further education colleges, in general, there is a relatively high level of satisfaction with training and professional development programmes offered through them, with 86% of those in the survey who had participated in such programmes declaring themselves very or somewhat satisfied with the delivery. Nonetheless, as we show in Figure 6.2.1, there is some variation across Local Authorities, with 92% declaring themselves very or somewhat satisfied in North Somerset, compared to just 83% in Bristol. Figure 6.2.1: % satisfied with colleges and further education (FE) by LEP area

Figure 6.2.2 shows that there is also variation across sectors, with very high levels of reported satisfaction with training and CPD programmes offered through FE in Creative Industries (100%), High Tech Industries (100%), Tourism (93%), and Health and Life Science (92%). However, levels of satisfaction are below average (but still strong) in Food Technology (75%), Construction (79%), and Advanced Engineering and Aerospace (83%).

92%

86% 86% 85%

83%

78%

80%

82%

84%

86%

88%

90%

92%

94%

North Somerset B&NES Overall SouthGloucestershire

Bristol


68

Figure 6.2.2: % satisfied with colleges and further education by sector

Base: respondent businesses with experience in working with colleges and further education (N = 144)8

Lower numbers of businesses overall have availed themselves of the offer of training and CPD through area universities and higher education (HE) institutions, but the average rates of satisfaction are equally as high as those working with colleges and FE, with 89% of the 70 businesses who responded to this question declaring themselves very or somewhat satisfied with their experiences (Figure 6.2.3). What we do note, however, is that businesses based in Bristol again rank the offering lower (83% very or somewhat satisfied) than their counterparts in North Somerset (100%), B&NES (92%), and South Gloucestershire (89%). Figure 6.2.3: % satisfied with universities/higher education by LEP area

8 No businesses in the Distribution sector responded that they have availed themselves of training or CPD through FE/HE.

69%

75%

79%

83%

85%

86%

88%

89%

92%

93%

100%

100%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Other (11/16)




Overall


Low Carbon (7/8)

Retail (17/19)


Tourism (13/14)



100%

92%

89% 89%

85%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

100%

North Somerset B&NES SouthGloucestershire

Overall Bristol


69

Breaking these figures down by sector, we see a relatively similar pattern to those businesses who had received such programmes through FE providers; many sectors have above-average levels of satisfaction, but Construction (50%) and Advanced Engineering and Aerospace (75%) again have somewhat lower levels of expressed satisfaction, joined in this instance by the Low Carbon sector (67%). Figure: % satisfied with universities/higher education by sector

Base: respondent businesses with experience in working with HE institutions (N = 70)9

Sector Snapshot

Training provision through FE and HE is uniformly distributed across sectors

However, there is variation across sectors concerning the level of satisfaction with FE and HE training providers

Very high levels of satisfaction with training and CPD programmes offered through colleges are reported in Creative Industries, High Tech Industries, Tourism, and Health and Life Science. Levels of satisfaction are below average (but still strong) in Food Technology, Construction, and Advanced Engineering and Aerospace

The same pattern is true for training provided through universities in the region, although there are also lower-than-average satisfaction levels in the Low Carbon sector

LEP Area Snapshot

Satisfaction rates with training programmes provided by colleges and universities are highest in B&NES and North Somerset

Bristol-based businesses are slightly less satisfied with training provision through colleges and universities than elsewhere in the West of England

9 No businesses in Retail or Food Technology sectors responded to this question.

50%

67%

75%

89%

90%

92%

100%

100%

100%

100%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Construction

Low Carbon


Overall

Creative Industries



Tourism


Other


70

7 Apprenticeships Apprenticeships are seen as one of the key tools for bridging the gap between skills needs and supply. For example, the first line of the government’s The Future of Apprenticeships in England: Implementation Plan (HM Treasury, 2013) describes apprenticeship training as ‘central to raising our nation’s skills and delivering strong returns for the economy’. Seven out of 10 employers state that apprenticeships contribute to the development of quality goods and services, while 83% of those surveyed who had been through apprenticeships see them as contributing to their own career and earnings prospects. Ninety-four per cent of employers surveyed think that apprenticeships contribute to the development of a skilled workforce. Apprenticeships have been found to raise productivity levels, to repay their cost to employers within two years, and to return an added value of £26–28 for every £1 invested through the public purse. The government has laid out an ambitious vision for the development of apprenticeships across the country by 2020, and the central plank of this vision is the implementation of the apprenticeship levy (0.5%) on businesses with a pay bill that exceeds £3m, which will be used to fund a series of initiatives that aim to deliver an apprenticeship model on par with France or Denmark. In the chapter below, we explore the uptake of apprenticeships in the West of England LEP area, awareness and participation in the levy, and barriers to the further development of apprenticeship opportunities in the area. Section summary Apprenticeships form an essential building block in the construction of a skilled and trained workforce, and are a key component of the strategy that the central government has laid out for easing workforce entry and transition. Within the West of England, there is a core group of employers who use apprentices as part of their business delivery model. Businesses also see apprenticeships as a means to upskilling their existing workforce. While two-thirds of employers have no plans to engage apprentices in the near future, there is a sizeable number who say that they are considering it, and a further non-negligible group who are not sure. There is room for further development of apprenticeships across the LEP area, and an opportunity to consolidate their role in skills provision.

7.1 Attitudes towards Apprenticeships

As shown in Figure 7.1.1, the majority of respondent businesses do not currently employ staff undertaking apprenticeships (83%), although 17 (1%) of those reported that they have done so in the past (approximately 2% of the sample, all micro-businesses, responded with ‘Not applicable’ to the question).


71

Figure 7.1.1: Do you currently employ any apprentices?

Base: all respondent businesses (N = 1419)

A selection of responses to this question have been categorised and presented in Table 7.1.1. below. Table 7.1.1: Categorisation of responses to ‘Do you current employ any apprentices?’

Perception of difficulties providing apprenticeships in SMEs

We would like to bring on some apprentices but I think we need to have at least 20 people plus before we consider that, definitely not for the next three years but perhaps three to five years.

Discomfort with the idea of ‘cheap labour’ Taking apprentices can have a reputation of people just wanting cheap staff, that seems immoral as we won't be able to offer skills/a trade.

We pay higher rates than the minimum wage because we want them to stay with us and become useful members of staff.

[Apprentices] are sometimes used as cheap labour by the wrong companies, rather than learning a trade or skill.

Dissatisfaction with skills and motivation of apprentices

We've looked at this, there are no apprentice training programs that cover what we want, the range of

No83%

No, but have done so in the past

1%

Yes16%


72

skills. We can have an admin person, or front of house, but we need someone who can do a range of things.

[They would play a] massive [role] if I could get them! A lot of young people have the wrong attitude to work though and we're not seeing enough people through the door to have that good a choice of apprentice candidates, we employed 2 or 3 agencies to help us try and find people but they weren't very successful.

Apprenticeships as a conduit into longer-term roles within the company that require niche skill-sets

They are critical to succession planning.

[Apprenticeships are] quite important [to us]. We like to bring people through our ranks, start them here and hopefully with the training we give them, they continue to work with us and stay with the company.

Our experience is that apprentices join my company and are taken on long term into sustainable employment.

[They play] quite a crucial part, we're looking to develop apprentices and then take them on full time as the job roles within our organisation are quite specific… [There is] not a generic skill set so it makes sense to train people up in the business to then take them on

The aim is to take on more apprentices and then in the next 4-5 years they will be specialists as these are the people we are finding difficulty in recruiting so we are now going to train them ourselves.

Inapplicability for certain sectors/difficulties sourcing appropriate work for apprentices

I'd like [apprentices] to play a part but I'm struggling to know where to go or what to do for the sector/role that we require which is a general sign maker role… [This requires] graphics design, sign assembly etc.


73

We've been approached a few times, but it's difficult to define working in an art gallery as a 'trade’

I am not sure apprentices are appropriate to my business. However, I may consider them in the future. – Social research consultancy (Professional and legal services)

Issues communicating with colleges We're going to start recruiting 2 apprentices and are finding the hardest part is locating which colleges hold apprenticeships, we don't hear about them and we need youngsters to come through as we have experienced workers here and it would be good to pass that experience on. Apprentices will play a massive part in the future of the business.

We are now considering recruiting an apprentice and have been trying to get information and advice from our local college in Weston but unfortunately they're not very forthcoming.

[We are] very interested - I once sent an email to the college in town but had no response.

It's a great scheme, when we were looking for apprentices we advertised with City of Bristol College but they were terrible, very disorganised and we were disappointed with them, I think they had quite a high staff turnover and so we use Taunton College now.

We have had an apprentice 2 years ago which was a painful process. The college was hopeless; they didn't manage her aspirations at all. She got a qualification at the end of her time with us, but the college didn’t deliver what she wanted.

Of the 232 businesses in our survey that are currently offering apprenticeships (Table 7.1.2), Advanced Engineering and Aerospace businesses offered the most per sector (35%), followed


74

by Health and Life Science (35%) and Construction (29%). Notably, High Tech Industries offered the least apprenticeships per sector, with only 11 businesses in our sample (8% of the sector total) saying that they currently employ apprentices in their workplace. Table 7.1.2: Industry breakdown of apprenticeships offered

Businesses offering

apprenticeships (n)

Base %

Advanced Engineering & Aerospace 27 78 35%

Health and Life Science 18 51 35%

Construction 35 121 29%

Distribution 2 9 22%

Low Carbon 9 54 17%

Food Technology 4 23 17%

Tourism 22 141 16%

Retail 36 221 16%

Professional & Legal Services 21 164 13%

Other 27 213 13%

Creative Industries 20 182 11%

High Tech Industries 11 145 8%

Base: all respondent businesses employing apprentices (N = 232)


75

The apprenticeship levy to be introduced in April 2017 requires all employers operating in England with a pay bill over £3 million each year to invest (0.5% of their pay bill) in apprenticeships. In the survey, 60 businesses (4%) responded that they have a wage bill greater than £3 million.10 The proportions of businesses in each sector who answered ‘yes’ to this question are presented in Figure 7.1.2 below; while the overall numbers are low, it is evident that there is a great uptake of apprenticeships in sectors with high skills demands, such as Advanced Engineering and Aerospace (15% of all businesses offering apprenticeships), Health and Life Science (13%), and Distribution (13%). In contrast, there are very few, if any, apprenticeships offered in the sectors of Retail (2% of all businesses in the sector), Creative Industries (1%), and Food Technology (none). Figure 7.1.2: Proportion of businesses with wage bills over £3 million by sector

Looking at the same information presented by Local Authorities, we can see that the take-up of apprenticeships is slightly higher in South Gloucestershire (5% of all businesses surveyed across all sectors) than in B&NES (3% of all businesses surveyed across all sectors).

10 It should be noted that a further 74 businesses surveyed (5%) answered that they were unsure of whether their wage bill exceeds £3m.

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

4%

4%

4%

4%

4%

13%

13%

14%

0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16%



Retail (5/219)

Low Carbon (2/58)


Other (8/124)

Overall (60/1441)

Tourism (6/139)



Distribution (1/8)




76

Figure 7.1.3: Proportion of businesses with wage bills over £3 million by LEP area

7.2 Future Intentions

Looking forward, about one in six (17%) responding businesses plan to offer apprenticeships in the next three years, compared to two out of three (66%) that do not, with 262 (17%) undecided at this point in time (Figure 7.2.1). Alternatively, 9% (137/1488) of businesses plan to upskill existing employees through apprenticeships in the next 12 months, and 10% (154/1488) are undecided in this respect. Figure 7.2.1: Do you plan …

5%

4%4%

3%3%

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

SouthGloucestershire

Overall Bristol North Somerset B&NES

17%

9%

65%

81%

17%

10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

To recruit apprentices in the next 12 months To up-skill employees through apprenticeships inthe next 12 months?

Yes No Don't know


77

Consistent with our observation that rates of apprenticeships seem to be higher in South Gloucestershire than in the other three local authority areas, Figure 7.2.2 suggests that there is also a higher rate of businesses who plan to offer apprenticeships in the next 12 months. Figure 7.2.2: Businesses planning to recruit apprentices in the next 12 months by LEP area

Base: N = 1482

Looking at these data by sector (Figure 7.2.3), we can see that the same sectors that lead in currently offering apprenticeships are also those most likely to offer new apprenticeships in the coming 12 months (Distribution, Advanced Engineering and Aerospace, and Health and Life Science), with the notable addition of businesses in the Food Technology sector; whereas there are no apprenticeships currently offered in this sector among the businesses responding to our survey, we find that nearly one in three of them foresee doing so over the next year. We note that this may be of relevance to policymakers in the West of England when planning sector-by-sector interventions to support the implementation of the national apprenticeship scheme.

15%

15%

18%

19%

19%

17%

19%

17%

66%

68%

63%

64%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

B&NES

Bristol

North Somerset


Yes Don't know No


78

Figure 7.2.3: Businesses planning to recruit apprentices in the next 12 months by sector

7.3 Upskilling through Apprenticeships

Finally, we were interested in better understanding the profile of those who plan to utilise apprenticeships as a means to upskilling their current or future workforce and of using apprenticeships specifically to address skills needs and gaps. We asked businesses to tell us if they were planning to use apprenticeships in the near future (the next 12 months) to upskill employees; overall, about one in 11 (9%) said that they are, with a further one in 10 (10%) responding that they are not sure at this point. Figure 7.3.1 presents this data from Local Authorities, again showing that there is a slightly stronger, affirmative response in South Gloucestershire, with one in nine businesses (11%) seeing apprenticeships as a future means to upskilling employees.

10%

11%

14%

16%

17%

17%

19%

19%

20%

27%

28%

30%

33%

20%

20%

25%

17%

17%

15%

18%

8%

12%

11%

12%

13%

11%

71%

69%

60%

66%

66%

67%

63%

73%

68%

63%

60%

57%

56%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%


Creative Industries

Retail

Other

Overall


Tourism

Low Carbon

Construction



Food Technology

Distribution

Yes Don't know No


79

Figure 7.3.1: Businesses planning to upskill employees through apprenticeships in the next 12 months by LEP area

Base: N = 1470

Looking at the numbers broken down by sector, the same patterns can be observed as in section 7.2 above, with Advanced Engineering and Aerospace (23%), Distribution (22%), and Health and Life Science and Tourism (16%) leading the pack. By way of contrast, and again consistent with the low take-up rates of apprenticeships in the sector, only 4% of the businesses surveyed in the High Technology Industries sector see the possibility of upskilling their workforce through apprenticeships in the next 12 months. Figure 7.3.2: Businesses planning to upskill employees through apprenticeships in the next 12 months by sector

8%

9%

9%

9%

11%

14%

9%

9%

10%

11%

78%

83%

82%

81%

78%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

B&NES

Bristol

North Somerset

Overall


Yes Don't know No

4%

5%

5%

6%

6%

9%

10%

11%

13%

16%

16%

22%

23%

5%

11%

2%

10%

11%

10%

6%

20%

13%

8%

18%

0%

5%

91%

85%

93%

84%

83%

80%

84%

69%

74%

76%

66%

78%

72%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%



Low Carbon

Creative Industries

Other

Overall

Construction

Retail

Food Technology

Tourism


Distribution


Yes Don't know No


80

Sector Snapshot

Of the businesses in our survey that are currently offering apprenticeships, Advanced Engineering and Aerospace businesses offered the most per sector, followed by Health and Life Science and Construction.

High Tech Industries offered the least apprenticeships per sector

The same sectors that lead in currently offering apprenticeships are also those most likely to offer new apprenticeships in the coming 12 months

Similar sector-by-sector patterns are observed for businesses who say that they plan to use apprenticeships as a means to upskilling their workforce

LEP Area Snapshot

There is a uniform but low take-up rate of apprenticeships among businesses in all four LEP areas, with marginally higher rates in South Gloucestershire

The same is true for businesses who plan to offer apprenticeships in the next 12 months, or who indicate that they are not yet sure

South Gloucestershire also marginally leads the other areas in businesses who plan to use apprenticeships to upskill their workforce


81

8 Progression of Skills in the Workforce

since 2015 Section summary In 2015, Wavehill was commissioned by the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership to analyse data collected through the West of England Skills Survey conducted by the LEP. In our 2015 report, we highlighted a number of areas in which it was felt that skills provision is robust within the region, and we also identified areas where there are challenges. For example, the data suggest that fewer businesses see apprenticeships as a core part of their business growth and recruitment strategies today than a year ago. The findings of this report fed into the 2015/16 skills plan, which has been a central plan to LEP business support activities over the last 12 months. In this chapter, we look back at some of those key findings and the results of the mapping that we conducted, and report on the progression that has been made in skills provision and meeting skills and recruitment challenges within the West of England.

8.1 Vacancies and Recruitment

In the 2016 West of England Employer Skills Survey, about half of the businesses surveyed had at least one vacancy in the past 12 months (and, as reported above, the majority of those had multiple vacancies, with the mode being two to four per business). Of those businesses with vacancies, nearly half reported that they have experienced difficulty in filling them, meaning that approximately one in every four employers in the West of England are experiencing some difficulty with recruitment. However, despite the fact that hard-to-fill vacancies are clearly a central preoccupation of employers in a modern, skilled economy, this figure represents a welcome progression from the levels identified in 2015, where hard-to-fill vacancies were identified by two out of five employers as a major problem. In our analysis of the 2016 survey, we reported above that two-thirds of those experiencing recruitment difficulties cite skills shortages as one of the principal reasons for having them; this is a comparable figure to that reflected in the 2015 survey, where three out of five employers cited the low number of applicants with the required skills as being a major barrier to filling vacancies. The most commonly cited skills that are lacking remain technical, practical or job-specific skills, where the numbers for 2016 (69%) are comparable to those reported in 2015 (62%).

8.2 Skills Gaps and Requirements

Overall, the same proportion of respondents this year see the primary reason for their particular priorities in terms of skills requirements as being attributable to their desire for business growth, as in the 2015 survey (61%). The second most commonly cited reason remains the same as well: the need to introduce new technologies or equipment (42% in 2016 vs. 50% in 2015). Just as in 2015, we found that there is variation across sectors, with the


82

focus on technical and sector-specific skills highest in sectors associated with advanced technology and lowest in the service sector. Hard-to-fill vacancies are having a discernible impact upon businesses, notably in the form of increased workloads for current staff and lost market opportunities. The same sector, Advanced Engineering and Aerospace, leads in seeing technical, sector- or job-specific skills as a barrier to business growth and the distribution of responses across sectors remains broadly the same, indicating stability within this finding.

8.3 Training

Around four in five responding businesses (79%) in the 2015 survey said that their staff had undergone some form of training in the past 12 months, roughly comparable to the 71% of respondents who answered similarly in the 2016 survey. Again, our findings show that the breakdown of training provision across sectors is remarkably stable from 2015 to 2016, with the highest rates of provision reported in sectors with the highest skills needs and gaps. In chapter 5 of this report, we identified job-specific training as being the most commonly provided form of training over the last 12 months, with 81% of those having engaged in training provision focussing it towards job-specific skills. This finding once again mirrors the numbers reported in the 2015 survey, where four out of five employers (80%) suggesting that the types of training that had been arranged for staff were predominantly job-specific. In both surveys, the second most common type of training provision is that related to health and safety, including first aid (62% in 2016 vs. 64%). However, once we compare responses for barriers to training, we can see diversity in the responses between 2016 and 2015. In our previous report, we found that 37% of the respondents overall felt that the lack of funding is an impediment to training provision; in the current report, we find that this has dropped to 20%, and is now the leading barrier to training provision. The questions relating to staff time have changed from the 2015 survey to the 2016 survey, bringing the 2016 version in line with the UKCES response categories, but it appears that these have diminished as a leading factor. Last year, we found that pressures on staff time were the most commonly cited barrier to training the current workforce for 56% of businesses overall; in 2016, 24% of respondents identified one or the other (or both) of the items ‘Can’t spare more staff time’ and ‘Hard to find the time to organise training’ as being a major barrier to training provision. This comparative result suggests that businesses are finding ways to overcome demands on staff time as a barrier to training provision. We would note that in the current report we found a correlation between training provision and business size, and given the equivalence in the survey demographics, we might infer that this supports the view that staff time pressures have eased as impediments to training provision.


83

Last year, we found that 50% of businesses responding to the survey reported having a business training plan; this figure has dropped in the current survey to just over one in three respondents (37%). We also find rather lower numbers reporting having a training budget (22% in 2016 vs. 44% in 2015), suggesting that there has been some slippage in the attention to formal training procedures and the resources allocated to it. Together with the observations that we made above, we can detect continuity, progression and slippage in the area of training. Training is taking place at about the same rates and addressing the same areas; barriers to training are perceived as somewhat lower than last year, but there are fewer businesses with formal training plans, and fewer resources being devoted to training.

8.4 Engagement with FE and HE

In the 2015 survey, 45% of respondents said that they were currently working with schools and colleges to support the development of employability in young people. In the current report, we have found that approximately one in four employers (27%) are working with colleges and universities in the area. Although it is tempting to conclude that this represents a drop-off in the engagement between businesses and FE/HE, we would once again temper any strong conclusions with the caution that the 2015 survey was based on a different methodology with a much smaller sample. That being said, the numbers in both surveys citing the primary form of engagement as work experience (68% in 2016 vs. 72% in 2015) are roughly comparable, and it is possible that overall engagement levels may not have progressed in the desired direction.

8.5 Apprentices

In the 2015 report, we found that more than two-thirds (69%) of businesses responding to the survey said that they do not currently employ apprentices. In 2016, as discussed in chapter 7, we found that this figure had risen to 83% for our sample of respondents. Equally so, we find that the numbers of those suggesting that they are interested in taking on apprentices in the next 12 months are lower in 2016 (17%) than in 2015 (21%). Conforming to these findings, the data also suggest that fewer businesses see apprenticeships as a core part of their business growth and recruitment strategies today than a year ago. Given the emphasis that has been placed upon the role of apprenticeships in upskilling the workforce and providing entry opportunities to skilled trades, this is a finding that commands attention.

8.6 Continuity, progression and slippage

In Table 8.6.1 below, we summarise the key comparisons that we are able to draw from the 2016 and 2015 West of England Employer Skills Surveys, categorising them into areas of continuity, progression and slippage.


84

Table 8.6.1: Comparison between 2016 and 2015 West of England Employer Skills Surveys

Progression

Continuity

Slippage

Area Hard-to-fill vacancies Barriers to training

Skills shortages linked to hard-to-fill vacancies Shortage of technical, sector- or job-specific skills Priorities for recruitment Business impacts of skills shortages Rates of training provision Provision of work experience through FE and HE

Business training plans Resources devoted to training Engagement with FE/HE Apprenticeship provision Role of apprenticeships in future plans


85

9 Conclusion This report has mapped the principal findings of the 2016 West of England Employer Skills Survey, building upon the legacy of previous skills survey work conducted by the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership. The large sample size – 1509 respondents across the LEP area – has afforded a high quality and robust analysis of the evolution of skills needs, demands, and provision in the region. In particular, we find that;

Hard to fill vacancies continue to define the business landscape and provide challenges to employers; those hard to fill vacancies create significant drag on economic development and business growth opportunities, as reported by our sample respondents;

Young people face significant recruitment challenges, as employers tend to look for those who already have skills and/or workforce experience;

Technology, social media and marketing, and changes in legislation are recurrent themes in business concerns about future skills needs

There is a clear demand for workforce training and a recognition on the part of employers of the need to provide workforce development opportunities and on the job training;

Many businesses point to resource limitations as being a major barrier to more and more effective on the job training;

Employers are engaging with education (FE and HE) establishments where they can; however, they identify particular challenges in doing so, and often cite lack of interest on the part of FEI and HEI, or resource issues as preventing them from doing more

Those who do benefit from training programmes through external training providers are generally very satisfied with the provision;

The core businesses who engage with apprenticeships echo national surveys in identifying clear benefits of doing so. However, the take up rate of apprenticeships, particularly among SMEs, is low.

We find that the West of England LEP has clearly identified gaps in skills provision and training in its latest sector skills statements, and this research points to a clear role for the LEP to play in continuing to meet the needs of business in reducing skills gaps and in creating the conditions under which businesses in the area can take advantage of new opportunities. This report underscores the need to LEP activities that help employers reduce the barriers to training provision, that ease the workforce entry for young people, that help develop sector specific training programmes, and that continue to foster engagement between businesses and education. In the light of the impending (April 2017) apprenticeship levy in England, the role of the LEP in raising awareness among employers of the centrality of apprenticeships in providing a skilled workforce will be crucial.


86

Appendix 1: Broad industrial group

classification of non-sector

respondents

In the survey sample, there were 1287 businesses who were able to be placed into one of the sectors identified in section 1 of this report, 1181 from the telephone survey and 106 from the online survey. The remaining respondents were identified against Broad Industrial groups (2007 SIC code classification), shown Table A1 below. In the report, these 223 businesses are categorised as ‘Other’ for purposes of analysis. Table A1: ‘Other’ broad industrial groups reached by the survey

Telephone Web Total

Defined sectors (2007 SIC code classification) 1181 106 1287

C - Manufacturing 56 56 G - Wholesale and Retail Trade, including the repair of motor vehicles 2 2

J - Information and Communication 14 14

L - Real Estate Activities 3 1 4

N - Administrative & Support Service Activities 39 39

P - Education 29 2 31

Q - Human Health & Social Work Activities 31 31

R - Arts, Entertainment and Recreation 1 1

S - Other Service Activities 45 45

Total 1401 109 151011

11 Includes one business that provided no completed responses to survey questions, thus yielding a base of 1509 respondents for analysis.

Appendix 2: Colleges and

Universities

School/College N

University of the West of England (UWE) 38

Weston College 32

City of Bristol Collage 21

SGS (South Gloucester and Stroud) College (inc Filton College) 18

Bath College 17

University of Bristol 16

Bath Spa University 14

Clevedon Community School 13

SGS (South Gloucester and Stroud) not inc Filton college 12

Bridgwater College 11

Churchill Academy (comprehensive) 11

Bath Univeristy 10

Gordano School 10

Norton Hill Midsomer Norton Bath 10

St Brendan's Sixth Form College 9

Wellsway School 8

Castle School Thornberry 7

Cotham School 7

Katharine Lady Berkeley School 7

Mangotsfield Secondary School 7

Marlewood School 7

Merchants Acadamy 7

Broadoak Mathematics and Computing College 6

Ashton Park School 6

Bradley Stock Community School 6

Brimsham Green School 6

Filton College 6

The Kings of Wessex Academy 6

University of Bath 6

Backwell Secondary School 5

Colston Girls School 5

St Katherine's School 5

Weston Super Mare- Priory Community School. 5

Worle Community School, Weston super Mare. 5

Bristol Grammar School 4

Chew Valley School 4

Chipping Sodbury School 4

Henbury Comprehensive 4

Nailsea Secondary 4

Oasis 4

Prior Park College. 4

QEH (Queen Elizabeth's Hospital) School 4

Wiltshire College. 4

Bedminister Down School 3

BTEA 3

Colston's School 3

DigiTech Studio School 3

Fairfield High School 3

Gloucestershire College 3

Kingswood School 3

Orchard School 3

Patchway Community College 3

Red Maids School 3

Redland Green School, Bristol 3

St Laurence Secondary 3

The Grange School 3

Writhlington School 3

Yate International Academy 3

Abbeywood Community School 2

Badminton School 2

Bridge Learning Campus 2

Bristol Brunell Academy 2

Bristol Cathedral Choir School 2

Bristol Free School (via Young Enterprise programme) 2

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School 2

Cirencester College 2

City Academy 2

City of Bristol 2

Clifton College 2

Corsham School 2

Falmouth University 2

Fosse Way School (learning difficulties) 2

Frome College 2

Hanham Woods Academy 2

Hansprice Academy, Weston super Mare. 2

King Edwards, Bath 2

Kings Oak academy 2

Knowle DGE school 2

Oldfield School 2

Plymouth University 2

Ralph Allen 2

Redland High School 2

Redmaids School 2

Rithlighton School 2

Royal High School Bath 2

S & B Automotive Academy 2

Sheldon School 2

Sidcot Private School ( all categories) 2

Sir Bernard Lovell School 2

Sommervale School 2

St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School 2

St Mary Redcliffe Secondary 2

St Nicholas Chantery 2

Strode College 2

Summervale 2

University of Gloucestershire 2

Westbury College 2

Winterbourne Academy 2

ARC Training 1

Ashton Gate 1

Bath Community Academy 1

Bath Studio School 1

Baytree School 1

Beechen Cliff 1

Bicton College, Devon. 1

Bimm(music specialist school) 1

Bishopsworth School, Bristol 1

Blackwell Secondary 1

Blue School 1

Bournemouth University 1

Brisington Enterprise College 1

Bristol Technology and Engineering Academy 1

Bristol Veterinary College. 1

Camborne School of Mines 1

Cannington College. 1

Cathedral School 1

Centre for alternative technology - University of Swansea 1

Chewton College 1

Chippenham School. 1

Chosen School, Gloucester. 1

City of Bath College 1

Clifton high school 1

Cobot Federation 1

Colestones 1

College of Cornwall, Cornwall. 1

Downend School. 1

Downside School 1

Exeter University 1

Farnborough Technology College 1

FGS college 1

Guildford School Of Acting 1

Harden Hewish, Chippenham. 1

Hartpury College, Gloucester. 1

Haygrove School 1

Henley College 1

Hertford College 1

Huish episcopi 1

IKB studio 1

Include Academy (for excluded pupils). 1

John Cabot Academy 1

Kings College Taunton 1

Kingsfield School (Kingswood) 1

Lackham College 1

Lancaster Grammar School. 1

Landsdown PRU 1

Launceston College in Cornwall 1

Learning Partnership West 1

Leicester University 1

Local Cleveden High School 1

Locking School 1

Loughborough University. 1

Marlborough College 1

Merriton School 1

Monks Park, Bristol. 1

Monkton Combes 1

National Micro Electronics Institute 1

Next Gen Skills Academy 1

Norlands Private College, Bath 1

North Somerset Enterprise & Technology College NFETC 1

Northern Livestock College. 1

Oasis Academy Brightstowe 1

Oasis Academy, Bristol. 1

Oasis Academy. 1

Oasis Secondary School 1

Radstock Technical College 1

Reading University 1

Redcliffe Sixth Form College 1

Reginton School 1

Ridlington Academy 1

Rislington. 1

Rodway Technical High School 1

Rose Bruford College 1

Selwood Academy 1

Silton College. 1

Somerset College 1

south bristol college 1

South Wiltshire University technical college 1

St Augustins 1

St Bedes Catholic College 1

St Gregory's Catholic School 1

St Josephs School 1

St Stephen's Primary School 1

Summerhill Academy 1

Sutton Grammar School 1

Swansea University 1

The Park. 1

The Watershed 1

Theatre Royal Bath. 1

Timoth Community College. 1

Tippenham College 1

Totnes European School 1

Univeristy Chong Qing, China 1

Univeristy of Oxford 1

University of Manchester 1

University of Salford 1

University Of Surrey 1

Urban Pursuits 1

Warminster School 1

Westfield School 1

Wooton Bassett School 1

Wyvern School 1

Kings Weston School 1

Documents

West of England Local Enterprise Partnership Employer ... · PDF fileWest England office: Unit 5.2, Paintworks, Arnos Vale, Bristol, BS4 3EH London office: Research House, 51 Portland