Leading education charity joins Northern Powerhouse #NPHpartner

The North East-based charity, which provides of a range of nationally recognised technical qualifications and educational services has joined the Northern Powerhouse as a means of furthering its core purpose, to ‘promote and advance learning’.

Through its diverse range of nationally recognised NCFE and CACHE branded vocational qualifications and resources, NCFE has supported millions of UK learners into employment over the past 170 years. Becoming a part of the Northern Powerhouse gives the organisation the opportunity to build on this success by partnering with other leading employers and regional stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the region’s needs, its function and impact on a national scale.

“The Northern Powerhouse has been gaining real traction and momentum in recent months, so to be joining the movement at such a pivotal time is really exciting for NCFE,” said David Gallagher, chief executive at NCFE.

“For over 170 years, NCFE has promoted social mobility and improved productivity through learning to ensure that people from all walks of life have the means and opportunity to achieve their goals. Social mobility is a huge focus area for the Northern Powerhouse which aligns perfectly with our core purpose and provides us with a unique opportunity to extend the reach and impact of our work.

“Whilst we operate across the UK and internationally, we are very proud of our northern roots and still house our headquarters in Newcastle. As a not-for-profit organisation, we are passionate about reinvesting in our services to provide skills for people in the North through our educational solutions, but also to be seen as a leading employer in the region, providing good, sustainable jobs for local people.”

The primary aim of The Northern Powerhouse is to boost the regional economy through investment in skills, innovation, transport and culture. Through its Partnership Programme, the Powerhouse encourages members to work together, supported by the government, to establish change and build expertise in these four key areas to help make the North a great place to live and work.

NCFE’s involvement in the Northern Powerhouse reflects the company’s commitment to its core purpose and its dedication to influencing real change to the delivery and impact of education in the North to help meet skills challenges in specific market sectors.

“We are constantly thinking about the future,” David continued.

“Our aspiration for the North is to drive up skills levels wherever we see an opportunity in the market and to influence change in skills strategy with a focus on innovation. As part of its five year Strategic Economic Plan, the North East Local Enterprise Partnership (NELEP) highlighted four key growth industries for the North East – digital, advanced manufacturing, health and life sciences and energy.

“Our work with The Northern Powerhouse will not only help us to support our own region to achieve its economic goals, but it will also provide us with unprecedented access to the 10 other LEP’s so we can solidify our understanding of the needs of the North on a wider scale which will help us to shape our teaching and learning provision and innovate solutions to better meet skills needs.”

Minister for the Northern Powerhouse, the Rt Hon Jake Berry MP, said:

“NCFE have been helping people across the North East get the skills they need for generations and I am thrilled to welcome them as the latest organisation to join our network of over 300 Northern Powerhouse Partners working together to boost prosperity across the North.

“The impact of their work to provide learning opportunities for people of all abilities, combined with our investment in the North East of almost £380m from the Local Growth Fund, will contribute to improved productivity across the region and give more people the opportunity to get good jobs.”

NCFE is a registered charity which provides a range of nationally recognised technical qualifications and educational services to help promote and advance learning for individuals, schools and colleges, employers and training providers.