By Fiona Baldwin
Practice Leader
Grant Thornton Northampton
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE is home to a thriving business community and the county has enjoyed successive years of economic growth. But with a raft of changes to negotiate from Brexit and GDPR legislation to interest rate rises and new consumer spending habits, how do companies ensure they continue on an upward trajectory?
This question was the focus of our latest research, which found that the key to unlocking growth is continued investment in talent and skills. In fact, 94 per cent of the high growth businesses we spoke to saw this as vital for their long-term success.
People are at the heart of every organisation and having the right talent and skills in place is an essential foundation for expanding into new sectors, industries or locations and taking advantages of new opportunities as they arise.
However, as Northamptonshire businesses know all too well, the country is facing an ongoing skills shortage, made increasingly difficult with the UK reaching so called ‘full employment’, making high-calibre employees often hard to come by.
Three quarters of fast growing businesses highlighted difficulty with recruiting and over half struggle to find the skills they need to support growth. These challenges also show no signs of fading with 88 per cent expecting recruitment competition to increase in the next 12 months.
So, what can businesses in Northamptonshire do to secure the skills they need?
Many companies are starting to look inward and are investing in training and development to grow existing talent within their business. Over 90 per cent of firms we spoke to already offer training to current employees covering areas including technical and professional development, digital skills, collaboration and teamwork. Business should also remember they can take advantage of the Apprenticeship Levy to help fund the cost of approved apprenticeship training and assessment schemes for existing or new employees.
Alongside this, companies need to ensure they retain this talent so they can reap the long-term benefits of their investment. To achieve this, businesses should strive to create a culture where every person feels valued and can thrive within the organisation. This goes beyond just offering financial incentives and should include non-monetary benefits such as flexible working, enhanced parental leave and career progression.
Businesses in Northamptonshire have every reason to be confident for the future but the world is changing and firms need to continually invest in talent and skills to stay ahead of the curve.
All organisations across the county, from private and public sector, to local government and not-for-profit have a part to play in working together to promote Northamptonshire as a fantastic place to live, work and create a vibrant economy, which attracts the skilled people to our region needed by local businesses.
Find out more at www.grant-thornton.co.uk