Member Article

IoD event celebrates diversity of Cumbrian industry

The Institute of Directors (IoD) North West hosted an event in celebration of Cumbria’s 40th anniversary last week in Cumbria.

A number of key topics were discussed, including manufacturing, current and future plans of investment, opportunities, the skills gap and the natural beauty of the region, and demonstrated the diversity of the industries in Cumbria and the rich talent pool the region has to offer.

IoD Cumbria Chair Neil McNicholas said: “We are very happy with the proceedings of the event. The calibre of keynote speakers and the number of attendees demonstrated how rich our region is. What was evident from last week’s event was that Cumbria is set to enjoy significant growth in both heavy engineering and manufacturing, which the spring budget substantiated.”

The skills gap was a poignant area of discussion and something that resonated with guests and speakers. Neil McNicholas continued: “One of the primary challenges facing the region is bridging the skills gap and vying businesses for skilled employees. Despite there being a number of opportunities clearly available within Cumbria, businesses within the region must look to collaborate and create partnerships and in a way to satisfy the significant demand of major employers.”

Looking back on the event, at the Rheged Centre in Penrith, John McNamara, head of communications at NuGen, said: “NuGen is committed to progressing our Moorside project in West Cumbria, an area which is blessed with world-class nuclear abilities, and highly-developed skills, training and educational infrastructure already in place to support the wider nuclear industry.

“Moorside could be the largest-ever private investment in West Cumbria, and we are working closely with our key stakeholders to take this nationally-important project forward.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graham Vincent .