The new training programme that will ‘plug the skills gap’ for around 2000 Mancs
UK Skills Academy, a digital and cyber security training provider, has been awarded a lead partner role in the £2m Digital Skills for Growth & Productivity contract, to lead Greater Manchester's ESF Skills For Growth programme.
A new range of flexible training programmes from UK Skills Academy will give around 2,000 people in Greater Manchester access to free flexible training across a range of digital programmes
The brand-new programme will help to address a shortage in digital skills in the region.
It’s hoped it will ‘plug the skills gap’ that has been identified following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The three-year Skills For Growth programme will help thousands of individuals and Greater Manchester-based SMEs to thrive, moving their businesses online and learn new digital skills to improve productivity.
Credit: UK Skills Academy
The free training will be flexible, remote, online and will provide the required skills and knowledge to support growth and productivity, such as digital marketing for business, digital transformation for leaders and managers, cyber security practices for business and much more.
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They will help business leaders to move their services and products online, and help individuals to develop skills like data analysis, cyber security and digital marketing.
The two-strand programme will support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across the city-region.
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It’s been hailed as a ‘truly employer-led’ venture that will directly help local businesses to access the best, and most needed, resources.
Credit: UK Skills Academy
UK Skills Academy offers digital and cyber apprenticeships and training, with the learner at the heart of everything they do.
Their mission is to teach people the digital skills that are needed in modern work environments, working with businesses to design and implement apprenticeships.
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The academy can even offer businesses bespoke programmes to fit with employers’ needs.
Speaking of UK Skills Academy’s appointment as the lead partner of the Skills for Growth programme, its MD Gemma Beech said the academy is ‘delighted’.
She said: “Our own experience and high-quality digital provision, along with our selected partners, are the right fit to respond to the needs of Greater Manchester’s digital skills shortages.
“Employers have consistently reported that they need support in developing technical skills and that demand industry-wide is expected to keep on growing.
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“We have a wealth of experience, innovative ideas and proven success in this sector and are looking forward to welcoming our learners.”
To find out more about Digital Skills Growth & Productivity, or see what UK Skills Academy has to offer, visit uk-skillsacademy.co.uk or express an interest here and one of the team will be in touch https://forms.office.com/r/pWbX7xvLZh
Featured image: UK Skills Academy
Business
Manchester Airport is hosting a big jobs fair with more than 500 roles on offer
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of careers are set for take-off, as Manchester Airport’s annual autumn jobs fair is returning early next month.
Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which owns and operates Manchester Airport as well as East Midlands and London Stansted Airports, is one of the largest of its kind in the UK, and this year is promoting vacancies in Hospitality, Car Parks, and Bussing at its jobs fair.
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about a career at the airport by speaking to employers operating on-site.
More than 500 roles will be advertised at the event, and more than 20 employers represented.
Manchester Airport is hiring! ✈️
Join us at the Wythenshawe Forum on 5th November for a huge recruitment event featuring 20+ employers and over 500 live vacancies across the airport. Whether you're starting out or looking for a fresh opportunity – this is your chance to take… pic.twitter.com/cmrlZUrBTM
Running from 10am to 2pm on Wednesday 5 November at Wythenshawe Forum, some of the other employers who will be represented at the fair include retailers and franchise operators, like Fever Tree, JD Wetherspoon, and Airport Retail Enterprises, as well as airport service providers like Dnata, Mitie, and AES – the engineering delivery partner for Ryanair.
The Airport Academy, which is run in partnership by Manchester Airport and Trafford & Stockport College Group, will also be in attendance on the day to promote its free pre-employment support programmes and fully accredited training schemes.
Jobseekers who secure a role within MAG can take advantage of a wide range of benefits during their employment.
Manchester Airport is hosting a big jobs fair next month with more than 500 roles on offer / Credit: Manchester Airport
These include discounts on public transport when travelling to work, free on-site car parking whilst working and when going on holiday, an excellent pension scheme, training programmes, retail discounts, and many more.
“We are excited to be hosting our autumn jobs fair at Wythenshawe Forum, giving people in communities surrounding the airport and beyond an opportunity to find out more about the varied career paths on offer in aviation,” commented Marcella M’Rabety, who is the Head of Social Sustainability at Manchester Airport.
“We are proud of our role in serving those communities, not just by connecting them to the places they want to fly to, but also by creating opportunities for local people and ensuring communities share in our success.”
Manchester Airport’s autumn careers fair is free for all to attend, but you’ll need to book your ticket online first here.
Featured Image – MAG
Business
Royal Mail fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets
Emily Sergeant
Ofcom has fined Royal Mail a whopping £21 million for failing to meet its delivery targets in the last financial year.
Each year, it’s the watchdog’s job to look at and measure Royal Mail’s delivery performance against nationwide annual delivery targets, and for the 2024/25 season, the company was required to deliver 93% of First Class mail within one working day of collection, and 98.5% of Second Class mail within three working days.
If Royal Mail misses its annual targets, Ofcom will first consider evidence of any ‘exceptional circumstances’ beyond the company’s control, and whether it would have achieved its targets had those events not occurred.
However, even after accounting for extreme weather events, Royal Mail was still found to have fallen short of its targets… and this time, they’ve been fined their highest sum so far.
We have fined Royal Mail £21m for missing its 2024/25 delivery targets, without justification.
The company must now urgently publish, and deliver, a credible improvement plan.
This is the third time in a row that Ofcom has found the company to be in breach of its regulatory obligations, after it was first fined a substantial £5.6m in November 2023, and then a further £10.5m in December 2024.
Royal Mail only delivered 77% of First Class mail and 92.5% of Second Class mail on time between April 2024 and March 2025.
Ofcom says it has therefore decided that the company breached its obligations by failing to provide ‘an acceptable level of service’ without justification, and took ‘insufficient and ineffective’ steps to try and prevent this failure.
“Hiding behind the pandemic as a driving factor in failures at Royal Mail does not cut it.”
Royal Mail has been fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets / Credit: Royal Mail
The watchdog says this is likely to have impacted millions of customers who did not get the service they paid for.
“Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp,” explained Ian Strawhorne, who is the Director of Enforcement at Ofcom.
“These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better.
“Royal Mail must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency, and that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises.
“We’ve told the company to publicly set out how it’s going to deliver this change, and we expect to start seeing meaningful progress soon. If this doesn’t happen, fines are likely to continue.”
The Manc -
20th January 2022 
