Small business ownership of learning and skills is a hot topic at the moment. From apprenticeship frameworks to undergraduate modules, businesses are being asked to lead the discussion to ensure that learning and qualifications meet the needs of industry.

This need has been demonstrated through new initiatives introduced by the government to facilitate greater employer ownership of skills, including the Growth and Innovation Fund, Employer Ownership of Skills pilots and Apprenticeship Trailblazers.

Education and learning providers everywhere are recognising that there is a need for innovation and flexibility in programmes when delivering learning and skills development for businesses, particularly small businesses.

In response to this SFEDI is working with Ingeus to develop and deliver a range of innovative programmes that put small businesses in the driving seat. These include diagnostic tools to help businesses understand their development challenges and opportunities, to methods of course delivery which are totally responsive to a business' needs.

Current programmes under development include:

- A new learning programme to help businesses manage age diversity in the workforce in the North East of England
- An activity to help graduate start-ups develop enterprising skills and access new markets across the Sheffield City region, and
- A collaborative project with learning and training providers in the North West to respond to the challenges and opportunities around the employer ownership of skills.

In addition to this, SFEDI is working with Ingeus to transfer good practices and examples of innovation in the development and delivery of learning and skills for small business. Innovation can happen at all stages of the learning process, some examples so far have included, assessing learning through mind maps, enabling businesses to co-create learning content prior to a course, and the use of social media to assist learning.

Therefore if your organisation is delivering leading edge learning and skills and using innovative techniques to deliver to small businesses, or, you’re an owner manager that has been on a fantastic course which has transformed the success of your business, we'd love to hear from you.

We're particularly interested in ways in which learning has given smaller businesses ownership of different aspects of the learning and skills process.

To find out more about SFEDI's work with Ingeus, and to share your examples of best practice, please contact Leigh Sear.