UNITED KINGDOM

West Midlands Region – Area of ContrastsBirmingham – City – CapitalHerefordshire – Rural – County Town HerefordShropshire – Rural – County Town –

Telford/LudlowStaffordshire – rural – County Town StaffordWorcestershire -rural – County Town WorcesterWarwickshire – rural – County Town Warwick

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Old Concepts

• Birmingham & West Midlands – Founding fathers of the industrial revolution (18/19th century) automotive (20th century)

• Herefordshire – Cathedral & cattle breeding

• Shropshire – castles, farming, but now industrial revolution of the “Telford” theme

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Staffordshire – farming, famous for hanging up t 18th century but also North Staffordshire potteries, porcelain, now creative industries.

Worcestershire – castles, farming & porcelain, music “Elgar”

Warwickshire – castles, heritage, “Shakespeare” automotive supply

Birmingham

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Contrasts of People & Places

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People

• Sikhs Muslims• Irish, Scottish, Welsh Travellers• African-Caribbean's Chinese• European Immigrants, Polish, Romanian etc• Jews

Social cohesion –riots, civil disobedience

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Shropshire

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Shropshire Heritage

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STATISTICS

• Population 290,900 • Men 143,700 Women 147,200 • The population density 0.91 persons per

hectare (ha) or 236 persons per square mile compared to a national figure of 3.92 persons per ha or 1,015 persons per square mile. The area of Shropshire is 319,736 hectares or 1,235 square miles.

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Initiatives

Universities & Colleges with “University Status”Women in Rural Enterprise

• Family Learning• Leonardo & Grundtvig Programmes• Lifetime Learning Programmes• Learning & Skills Councils• Regional Development Agency• County Council Training Programmes• Framework 7 applications

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Where does our project fit in ?

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Vision: Build relationships which guide &

unlock knowledgeCapture, codify & disseminate

DIRECTORS:Ken Lester

Christine LesterNoel Hodson

35 AssociatesPeople who share our Vision

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• Not for Profit Limited company since 2000

• Constitution

• Articles of Association

• History: it came from a national business think-tank and an inclusive approach

• worked with 500 top Corporate Companies

• WMTL exists to bring that knowledge to the Region of the West Midlands

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SEMINARS

• “Harnessing the Knowledge of the Region” – Seminar, Government Agencies, Universities, City Council, West Midlands businesses on “competitiveness”

• “Joined up Thinking for the Emergency Services (national crisis) Leadership for 3 police forces in response to call for social inclusion.

• Leadership Consultative Event – Windsor Castle (annually) bringing together top leaders to debate leadership issues.

• “Social Inclusion” self empowerment & related social issues, ethnicity, youth problems, health, training & education

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• Projects• Strategy & development of a Centre for Abused Women in

Birmingham – social enterprise & empowerment for women & children

• Feasibility Study for Black Community Development in Bradford – Centre for Cultural Studies

• Feasibility Study to provide headquarters for a major textile archive of importance to the business community (purchase & house the collection).

• Learning Sets: Social Responsibility, Health, Policing, Tourism & Heritage, Enterprise & Innovation

• Development of a strategy for the sustainability of social enterprise, charities & trusts.

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Chairperson of Dudley Social Business Partnership

Umbrella organisation for social enterprises for the training & employment of the physically

challenged

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• Business Support

• Third sector

• Social Responsibility

• Tourism & Heritage

• Public Sector (strategy)

• Social Enterprise

• Textile Design

EUROPEAN SUPPORT:

• Italy• Spain• Finland• Netherlands• Romania• Turkey• Lithuania• Switzerland

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• Greece

• Portugal

• Germany

• Belgium

• Austria

• Poland

• Latvia

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• Vocational Centre• People Development

– Management– Leadership– Customer Services– Administration– Business Support

Accreditation of Prior Achievement/Learning

Assessors & Advisers in “Investors in People”: Tourism, Heritage, Hospitality,Business networking, learning sets. Third sector support, family learning

PROJECTS

– 4th largest Cathedral in UK employing 60 staff & 450 volunteers – Leadership, Management Development

– Largest Diocese in the UK – Management Development– Accountancy practice – people development– Small businesses – people development– 2 Local Government Councils – Accreditation, Coaching & Mentoring Awards, Train the

Trainer– Ministry of Defence – Leadership Academy– Auto-motive Sector – Investors in People – volvo cars, administration & mentoring,

vocational qualifications– Recognising achievement of 185 team leaders in manufacturing– Automotive Suppliers – Rover Cars - first line suppliers – chain management, best

practice & benchmarking

PROJECTS

– Nursing/care Homes – strategy to meet national standards of care through people development

– British Council & World Bank – developed a toolkit for national training for Mexico– British Council & World Bank – National Skills Authority & Training Boards of South

Africa – skills assessment– British Council & World Bank – Curriculum development for all skills area for Egypt– Charity/Trust – Social Enterprises for the employment of the physically challenged– National Training Recognition of Assessors & Internal Verifiers training in all sectors for

organisations– Programme of learning for small businesses – identifying & managing people skills– European project – Qualifying on the Spot – recognition of prior achievement (finishes

2010)

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• AWARDSRoyal Society of Arts, Commerce &

Industry

National Recognising Achievement AwardFor

Use of a Vocational Qualification in an Innovative Manner

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