Posted: 05/11/09
VIP to launch East Midlands logistics academy at West Nottinghamshire College
A logistics academy for the East Midlands that is set to boost access to national skills within the logistics industry is being launched at the Kirkby-in-Ashfield campus of West Nottinghamshire College by deputy director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), John Cridland.
The academy, one of nine currently being established across England, aims to provide quality, industry-relevant training and learning programmes to employers in the logistics sector while raising the professionalism of the sector and helping businesses to up-skill their staff in order to remain competitive in the current economic climate.
The Logistics Academy East Midlands will be run by a consortium of businesses, universities, further education colleges and private training suppliers, and led by West Nottinghamshire College and Lincolnshire-based Denby Transport Ltd with support from Skills for Logistics, the sector skills council for the logistics industries.
Based at the college's Construction and Logistics Skills Academy at Station Park, it will build on the college’s delivery of logistics training while the partnership with Denby Transport will draw on the company's 80 years of expertise in logistics, warehousing and third-party driver training.
The academy, which will be managed by the college’s logistics centre co-ordinator, Craig Done, will also provide a regional resource of information, advice and guidance on skills development for employers.
West Nottinghamshire College principal and chief executive, Asha Khemka OBE, welcomes the development of the academy.
She said: “Logistics is one of the key industries keeping the UK economy afloat and the introduction of the Logistics Academy East Midlands is a welcome development for this region.
“We look forward to working closely with Skills for Logistics and Denby Transport to take the college’s logistics provision to even greater heights. We are confident the academy will be a standard-bearer for this thriving industry and an employer-led centre of excellence.”
Philip Goodwin, Skills for Logistics’ regional manager for the East Midlands, said: “Logistics is at the heart of the UK economy, with the East Midlands being the logistics hub of the country. Employing 10% of the region's workforce, the establishment of the Logistics Academy East Midlands is vital in terms of skills development for the sector.
“Led by the skills and training needs of logistics employers, the academy will ensure relevance and quality of training provision and will help to raise the profile of the sector as one with great career opportunities and a high level of professionalism.”
During the launch on 12 November, John Cridland, deputy director general of the CBI, will unveil a plaque to mark the new facility.
