Speaking at the East Midlands Business Conference in Nottingham alongside celebrated record producer Pete Waterman OBE and winner of the first series of BBC's The Apprentice, Tim Campbell, the Minister welcomed the public commitment made by local business leaders to the Skills Pledge - a promise to invest more in their workforce.
Phil Hope said:
"In the current economic environment, it is more crucial than ever to ensure that a lack of skilled and qualified people doesn't become a barrier to success.
"Though our region has a lower than average proportion of the workforce with higher level qualifications, employers are already rising to the skills challenge by investing at least £234million a year on training staff. The skills provided by this training will be the key to ensuring our local workforce has the potential and opportunity to succeed in business or the public sector."
In continuing the skills theme, the Minister moved on from the conference to attend the official opening of the £5million Laurus Building in Nottingham's BioCity. The building is the third phase of development in the BioCity project - providing 45,000 sq ft of grow-on office and laboratory facilities for companies seeking to expand.
Phil Hope said:
"It is fantastic news for the region that the companies at BioCity are growing and developing so rapidly. I hope that the presence of this hub of specialist skills and knowledge continues to create valuable employment opportunities for the local workforce, and that those opportunities help to drive up interest in the relevant scientific subjects in local schools and universities."
With this latest stage of the development opening ahead of schedule, BioCity is now officially the fastest growing bioscience incubator in the UK.
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