With over 100 business leaders in attendance, the University of Derby last Friday officially launched its new operating division - “corporate”.
This major new initiative will focus exclusively on delivering business training and development. The university is well establshed and already highly regarded for its innovative and flexible approach to working with industry. The new division aims to set a benchmark for collaboration between educational establishments and industry.
The university is striving to be “demand lead” and will work closely with businesses to identify training needs and skills shortages. It will structure and evolve bespoke flexible training programmes that provide recognisable qualifications.
“This is what the government calls an employer engagement strategic initiative, and it’s designed to address issues such as regional higher level skills shortages, the need to get more people into higher education and the need to ensure our businesses are as competitive as they can be in a global market,” said the University’s vice-chancellor, John Coyne.
“The bottom line is that the Government is looking for projects that best address all of these issues in a joined up way, and our idea has won their backing,” added Coyne, “make no mistake, the fact that we’ve got such government backing is a huge vote of confidence in our University and will bring us many benefits.”
The initiative is backed by £12m of Higher Education Funding Council and funds from other sources.
If you have a training requirement that you’d like the university to consider, please contact Angela Crawford on [email protected].
