Memorandum submitted by Jaguar Land Rover
I am writing to you in my capacity as Chief
Executive of Jaguar Land Rover in order to help inform your current
inquiry into Regional Development Agencies.
You will be aware that I have been a board member
of Advantage West Midlands (AWM) since 2003 but I believe the
leadership offered by the Agency in supporting the development
of our business is indicative of the overall leadership of the
Agency throughout the region and we also receive good support
from the NWDA for Halewood..
Jaguar Land Rover employs 15,000 in the UK,
and has production facilities in Halewood, Castle Bromwich and
Solihull, and product development centres at Gaydon and Coventry.
In June 2008, following the group's acquisition by Tata, we launched
a major recruitment drive to hire some 600 new graduate engineers,
demonstrating our confidence in our future and in the region and
supporting our significant investment in new product and environmental
innovation.
Over the past year, we have recognised the need
to revaluate our skills base and develop a training programs that
develop the skills and competencies of our workforce. Working
with AWM, initially on a mapping exercise to identify how skills
investment can improve our business performance, we have refocused
our priorities to attaining a broad range of NVQ Level 3 and above
qualifications rather than the normal narrowly focused Level 2.
We are now planning for some 1,300 employees to receive such training.
An integral part of this development is our
commitment to offer high quality apprenticeships. This year, the
goal has been to increase the overall number of apprentices and
we recognised that a much higher number of applicants would be
needed.
To attract this higher number and a higher calibre
of candidates, we worked with AWM to raise the profile of the
scheme; one initiative included bringing over 100 school leavers
into JLR for a day's induction. We received a total of 800 applications,
more than double that generated the previous year and we have
now successfully recruited 60 new apprentices.
These co-operations build on other past and
proposed programs such as the PARD Innovation programs and proposed
Low Carbon Vehicle projects which also have incorporated significant
skills elements.
In conclusion, AWM has worked very effectively
with us to increase apprentices and develop our broader skills
development programme. They have demonstrated an important strategic
leadership role that has achieved a step change in our skills
development. They responded to our initial enquiry quickly and
efficiently and then brought the right partners, at the right
level of seniority, to sit around the table to discuss the issues
and develop options. They then developed a package of assistance,
monitored progress and addressed any barriers that arose. Throughout
the project, AWM helped to build the capacity of our HR team to
work with local agencies and attract significant funds from the
public sector and from the private sector. As this work is ongoing,
the final value of this support has yet to be finalised but it
is important to recognise that the focus, level and design of
this support will deliver us economies of scale and higher rates
of return.
I strongly believe that our collaboration demonstrates
the RDA's expertise and ability to focus on our business needs
as well as the more generic needs of the regional economy. They
have focused our efforts on bringing real added value and achieving
significant rates of return on our joint investments.
18 September 2008
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