Skills Swap service launched to help Lancashire firms through coronavirus crisis

The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership's Skills and Employment Hub has launched the Lancashire Skills Swap service today to support the local business community during the coronavirus pandemic.

This unique service is dedicated to help businesses who are looking for people or volunteers, want to train their staff or want to offer people with knowledge and expertise to work for another business. Businesses can access this support by visiting the Lancashire Skills Swap page and registering their details. Opportunities are posted on the Skills Swap Noticeboard so you can easily see what’s needed and what is on offer.

The Skills Swap team are on hand supporting people and businesses to link up with each other and swap skills, as well as to help businesses access training for current staff, and for furloughed staff in preparation for the future.

• You may want to reach a wider audience with your staff recruitment needs.
• You may want to offer your organisation's skills and expertise to others.
• This could be the right time to take advantage of funded training for your staff, including those that are furloughed.
• You may want to encourage your furloughed staff to consider volunteering.

Steve Fogg (pictured above), chair of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership said: “At this time more than ever, the skills needs of all businesses are changing rapidly. There are now huge skills demands in certain sectors and a supply of people who are not currently working from other sectors. We saw that there was no single place for Lancashire's business community to communicate opportunities and needs for addressing the skills needs of Lancashire. This service is here to help.” One of the first businesses to register on the Lancashire Skills Swap is Affilius Group who are offering staff to work for or within another business to offer knowledge and expertise in IT, software, networks and remote working. This would be a free service from Affilius Group to most recipient organisations, but not for all.

For example, a charity needing support should be free but a highly profitable commercial business needing support may be chargeable. Andrew Dewhurst, managing director of Affilius Group: “I registered on the Skills Swap because we are keen to support Lancashire's businesses through our expertise in IT which is critically needed at this time.” Lancashire County Council is another organisation who have registered on the Skills Swap as they need to recruit more paid carers to care for the most vulnerable residents across Lancashire. You can access the Lancashire Skills Swap by visiting the website or contact the team by email.

The Lancashire Skills Swap is part of the wider #AskForHelp campaign led by Boost, Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub.