Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) has announced the launch of a new Skills and Talent hub, designed to meet the future skilling needs of employers and employees across South East Wales.
Brand-named ‘Venture’ this new employment and skills enterprise goes live on 13th September, to help connect the ambitions and aspirations of career-seekers and employers across the 10 unitary authorities that make up the CCR.
For launch, the new skills hub features Venture Graduate a re-branded, redesigned and revitalised graduate recruitment scheme provided at zero cost to any organisation in South East Wales, by the expert in-house graduate recruitment team at CCR. New features include the introduction of structured cohort model which will run as 3 separate programmes throughout the year – the first of which opens to businesses on the 13th of September.
The hub also features Venture Specialist – a collection of niche skills initiatives that the CCR is directly supporting or funding.
The intention is that the hub will evolve and expand to cover an ever-increasing range of skills and talent initiatives designed to meet the future skilling needs of employers and employees across the region.
Jane Mudd, Leader Newport City Council and CCR cabinet member with responsibility for Learning, Skills and Talent explained the fundamental importance of Venture:
“The future of our region will be built on realising the highly diverse potential of every person and organisation we have here in South East Wales – and Venture is a key building block in shaping that future. We’re launching in mid-September with our pioneering graduate programme already in place; and we’ll be growing quickly to include a range of exciting specialist and apprenticeship programmes that meet the needs of many different employers and a broad cross-section of candidate communities. It’s a journey that will evolve continually, with a firm focus on equipping our region with the sustainable skills we need to exploit the opportunities that are emerging in a world that’s being challenged by fundamental changes in society, infrastructure, demographics and climate.”
Nigel Griffiths, Chair of the CCR Business Council outlined how Venture is already helping employers recruit graduate talent across the region:
“The structure of Venture enables the team to work closely with employers on an ongoing basis, to really understand their workforce challenges and help them identify their talent requirements. It’s a completely free service providing help with everything from scoping the exact roles that need filling, to creating the job description, advertising the role, managing the shortlisting process, conducting the interviews and assessing the candidates to ensure ‘fit’ in terms of competencies and behaviours.
“It’s also very much a two-way process where the team ensures they deliver a positive candidate experience providing those valuable objective insights we all need on our career journeys. This new structure will also facilitate the creation of a live talent pool – working closely with our universities as well as graduates and employers – which means we can continually improve the talent pipeline outcomes for everyone in the region.”
Leigh Hughes, Chair of the Regional Skills Partnership said;
“Venture brings a one-stop-shop for businesses looking to grow and people looking to advance their careers in the region. We’re building on the success of our graduate scheme and the amazing service that it’s already provided – and now we’re looking to shape a wider suite of services, tailored to the exact needs of employers and employees, including introducing skills bootcamps and a range of qualifications that match up people and employers in the most efficient and engaging way, from apprenticeship to more senior levels.
“In many ways, Venture will bring more shape, structure and refinement to what can be done in skills development, career progression and all-round employability, for the benefit of everyone.
“Working alongside the CCR Regional Skills Partnership, Venture will be able to align training courses and qualifications more closely with what employers are telling us they really need; and building on some of the pioneering work being done in Wales and across the UK, by partnering with organisations such as Innovate UK’s ‘Women in Innovation’ and ‘Young Innovators’ programmes, both of which are geared to provide greater inclusion for the bright minds that live amongst us in often disadvantaged communities.”
Ultimately, Venture is all about having an offer available for everybody to access, enjoying the support they need to develop their skills, their career or their business.
Venture will play an increasingly important part in helping build a high performing and resilient economy that delivers inclusive prosperity here in our region. Right now, many companies are struggling to find the right human capital they need for all their functions. That is both a challenge and an opportunity for us as a region and Venture represents one of the steps we are taking to grow a working population where people have the skills they need to thrive in their jobs and careers, whatever the role or sector – and employers have the talent pipeline they need to continually develop and prosper.