Member Article

10 Years of Supporting Industry in the North East

In the Beginning

LDR Squared, a Northumberland based training provider, is celebrating its 10th year of supporting organisations in the North East. LDR Squared has gained a reputation for holistic, bespoke workforce development solutions which provide a REAL return on investment. They have also shown their ability to utilise government funding to support the needs of industry. To celebrate this occasion LDR Squared is running a series of 10 workshops which will highlight the 10 most important lessons they have learnt in working with organisations. Information on these events can be found at www.ldr2.co.uk/10-10.

In 2001, soon after being awarded the OBE for ‘Services to Education and Training’ Brian Smith formed LDR Squared. He was keen to support and help organisations develop their workforce, using knowledge gained over many years in management within manufacture, careers service. To read more about Brian visit www.ldr2.co.uk.

“For training to provide a real return on investment it must be in the context of the organisational goals. Any good workforce development solution must be holistic and bespoke to the needs of industry. It is for this reason we have endeavoured to deliver bespoke, customised solutions to industry that is focused on the goals of an organisation, yet responsive to the needs of the learners.“ Brian Smith OBE, Managing Director of LDR Squared.

The Story So Far

In our 10 years of supporting organisations we have been accredited to deliver qualifications through the awarding bodies EAL and ILM, as well as with the Matrix Standard for Impartial Information advice and guidance, and as an Investor in People. In 2011 we were assessed as being a grade 2, ‘good’ provider by Ofsted. LDR Squared was approved to draw down funding from government to support organisations to develop their workforce.

We have worked with a number of high profile organisations in the North East and have developed good links with industry across a number of sectors. Through working with industry we have been able to support organisations facing issues such as:

• An aging workforce and a lack of support to new entrants
• The necessity to reduce costs and improve flexibility whilst maintaining compliances
• The requirement for cultural change to support continuous improvement and better working practices
• Support to employee’s at risk of redundancy to provide them with relevant qualifications to help enhance their employability
• To bring about lean principles to counteract budget deficit

To support organisations with these and other issues we have developed our own model for holistic workforce development; The C3 Model. This model can allow an organisation to articulate a holistic training model that takes into account the issues of improved competitiveness, enhancingcapacity, and ensuringcompliances. The model provides a clear progression route for employees wishing to follow a specific career path and highlights area’s that need to be considered in the training needs analysis stage.

The Future

We are running a series of 10 workshops to celebrate our 10th year of trading. These workshops will highlight the 10 most important lessons we have learnt in working with organisations. We have partnered up with Intraining (part of the Newcastle College Group) and so are able to continue to offer government funded training solutions. This collaboration will also allow us to enhance our delivery model and offer a wider array of support to both organisations and learners.

If you are interested in hearing about how LDR Squared can support your organisation or would just like some impartial information advice and guidance (IAG) don’t hesitate to contact us on 01670 819 247, or e-mail Stuart at stuarts@ldr2.co.uk or Diana at dianam@ldr2.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Stuart Smith .