Businesses from the Fareham and the Solent area have joined me for my quarterly Solent Business Forum lunch, held at Avenue 141 restaurant, located on the campus of Fareham College.
Each quarterly forum has a guest speaker, with last Friday’s session seeing Stephen Metcalfe MP attend to address forum members.
Stephen was appointed by the Government to be an Apprenticeship Ambassador in October 2017. In this role he champions the opportunities and benefits that apprenticeships can offer and works across the UK to target specific areas and raise awareness.
Formerly Chairman of the Science and Technology Select Committee, since November 2017 Stephen also acts as an advisor for the Year of Engineering campaign, engaging with industry and government on tackling the engineering skills gap and widening the pool of young people who enter the profession.
At the forum, Stephen talked about his role in promoting apprentices, engineering and skills. Local business leaders were able to speak with Stephen and Suella about the issues impacting them.
I am very grateful to the many business who came along, and especially to Stephen who gave an excellent talk about the work he is doing to champion apprenticeships and skills. Businesses need skilled workers to support growth and improve productivity. We are seeing record numbers of people in Fareham taking up apprenticeships and with the addition of T Levels at Fareham College we will see our skills base expand further, which is good news for local businesses.
Any Fareham business interested in joining the Solent Business Forum should just get in touch with me to find out how.