Accountancy firm calls for ‘new economy’ to address Derbyshire skills gap

Mid-sized businesses in Derbyshire are facing “major challenges” in recruiting the right skills according to research undertaken by accountancy firm BDO.

The findings come off the back of the Derbyshire Growth Barometer report published in June, where discussions with local mid-sized firms throughout Derbyshire identified that businesses are suffering from a lack of suitable skills and that this may be a barrier to growth.

The Barometer focuses on a top 50 list of the fastest growing mid-sized firms in the region and included the likes of Mortgage Advice Bureau, Eurocell and Equip Outdoor Technologies.

Companies in a variety of sectors identified recruiting the right skills as an ever-increasing problem, and this was perhaps a more serious issue for those businesses outside of Derby city centre. Well known firms such as Toyota and Bombardier may attract more attention from government, local authorities due to their impact on local supply chain, says BDO, but it is becoming an increasing problem that the mid-sized market is not getting the required support, says the firm.

Further to this, a BDO national survey of mid-sized businesses illustrated that of those surveyed in the Midlands region, 85% have difficulty in recruiting people with the right skills, with 46% of these citing this as a problem in key positions. When compared with the rest of the UK outside of London and the South East, 76% of the mid-sized firms surveyed stated that they had difficulty in recruiting the right skills; it is evident that this is a key issue for the East and West Midlands.

The survey results also show that technology is the key area for which mid-sized businesses are struggling to find recruits, with over half (54%) stating this as a challenge, closely followed by engineering where just under a third (31%) are experiencing the most issues.

Gareth Singleton, BDO partner and leader of BDO’s Derbyshire team said: “BDO has recognised the fact that mid-sized businesses are often being overlooked and undervalued. We are calling for a ‘New Economy’ in which the government champions apprenticeships in order to enhance the availability of skills, by changing current apprenticeship plans so apprentices are given equal weighting to university entrants, government targets reflect results and standards are comparable across the UK.”

Peter Marples, Group CEO of 3AAA, who featured at number seven in the growth barometer report, said: “The advent of the new levy for employers brings the focus of skills development to the fore. We are helping many businesses take a strategic look at how they recruit for the future, develop existing staff and use this as a core part of their reward and progression approaches within their businesses. The apprenticeship levy and new apprenticeship standards is a game changer for many businesses.”