Update 11/03/20: This event has been postponed until 13th October 2020.

Businesses looking for help and support when it comes to skills and training have a golden opportunity next month when the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership will stage its first ever Skills Conference.

The event on Thursday 19th March at the Lincolnshire Showground will feature live skills demos, keynotes speeches, panel discussions and an opportunity for businesses to engage and network with skills and training providers and meet and talk to apprentices.

Four panel discussions will cover Planning the Future Workforce, Recruiting and Retaining the Right Skills, Apprenticeships, and Shaping Career Choices, and delegates will be encouraged to interact, and comment throught the day.

Among the guest panellists will be:

  • John Yarham, Interim Chief Executive of the Career & Enterprise Company
  • Charlotte Horobin, Membership Director Midlands and East at Make UK
  • Sarah Louise Fairburn, LEP Director and Brand and Sales Director at Fairburns Eggs
  • Dan Lewin, Regional Network Lead at the National STEM Learning Network
  • Angela Borman, Talent Manager at Siemens and Chair of the East Midlands Apprenticeship Ambassador Network
     

Among the keynote speakers will be employment guru Dr Paul Redmond, Director of Student Experience and Enhancement at the University of Liverpool and one of the UK’s leading experts on the graduate employment market.

Paul presents at numerous conferences and events around the world, helping organisations to acquire the skills and knowledge to thrive in today’s multi-generational workplace.

Also speaking will be Ruchi Aggarwal, Director of Business Development at Lincoln International Business School, University of Lincoln.

The Live Skills Showcase will demonstrate some of the skills being taught and developed for use in a variety of commercial and industrial sectors.

Seven businesses and training providers will be demonstrating state-of-the-art skills technology, including:

  • a self-driving tractor
  • a virtual reality welding simulator
  • a demonstration pneumatic circuit
  • programmable logic circuits
  • a programmable logic controller parts-sorting conveyor platform and robotic arm
  • an electric BMW car
  • a car featuring camera and radar systems for adaptive cruise control and lane assist
  • virtual reality and 3D printing
  • a virtual reality tour of a turbine factory
  • a virtual reality headset for simulated ship to shore crane training
  • a demonstration of film and TV make-up skills

Clare Hughes, Skills Lead at the Greater Lincolnshire LEP, said: “The first ever LEP Skills Conference is our response to increasing demand from organisations, businesses and partners for a business event focused entirely on skills. 

“We’ve been working hard to deliver this first LEP Skills Conference, bringing together an impressive line-up of keynotes speakers, panellists, and exhibitors and showcasing some of the fantastic skills already being developed and taught across Greater Lincolnshire.

“The conference theme is Shining a Spotlight on Skills and we are completely focused on employers; we will discuss and unravel the hot topics in skills, provide a horizon scan of a changing workforce, show employers the opportunities to work in collaboration with educators and other businesses, and provide ideas which delegates can take away and use in their own business.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming delegates at the Lincolnshire Showground for what we hope will be the first of many successful skills events.”

Hosting the conference will be Pat Doody from NatWest, currently Interim Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP and Chair of the Employment and Skills Board.

The LEP Skills Conference will run from 8am until 2pm on Thursday 19th March and is free to attend.

To register your place visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/greater-lincolnshire-lep-skills-conference-2020-tickets-82223878835.

If you can’t attend the conference you can still follow the action on the Greater Lincolnshire LEP’s Facebook page, where the speeches and panels will be streamed on Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/GreaterLincsLEP/.

To follow the conference on social media use the hashtag #skillsconf20.