A new programme of upskilling courses and accredited qualifications has been designed for local businesses to recover from the fallout of Covid-19.
Onwards Norfolk is an initiative from Norwich BID, Great Yarmouth Town Centre Partnership and Discover King’s Lynn which offers free training to local SMEs. New business hubs have also been established in each area to provide advice and signpost businesses to ongoing training.
The project began when the three BIDs secured £500,000 of funding through the government’s Community Renewal Fund. A further £92,000 was raised by the BIDs collectively.
The training will encompass a broad range of courses to help local people launch a new career or develop their existing one. More than 600 people from Norwich, King’s Lynn and Great Yarmouth have received training so far on everything from conflict management and health and safety, to employment law and equality and diversity. The campaign also includes workshops on sustainability, cybercrime prevention and digital skills, including social media and marketing strategy.
A special offering delivered by Night Time Economy Solutions will help local businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors devastated by Covid-19, as well as support individuals who would like to join the sector.
National statistics show that the night time economy was growing before the pandemic. It was the fifth largest industry with annual revenues of £66 billion and accounted for 8pc of UK employment. But now a survey from the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has found that 44.7pc of respondents were ‘unsure’ if their business will survive the next 12 months, with 20.8pc stating they were ‘not confident’.
Since the pandemic, staff recruitment and retention has been a major problem as people migrate away from the hospitality industry. Great Yarmouth Town Centre Partnership manager Jonathan Newman was walking through Market Row when he struck up a conversation with a café owner: “She said that they were trying to reopen but were struggling to recruit.”
But Jonathan hopes the chance to upskill will attract workers once again, especially as the sector expands post-Covid. “Our town centre, which has traditionally been predominantly retail based, is now moving towards having more hospitality businesses.”
Martin Blackwell, Norwich BID head of operations, said: “Leisure and hospitality businesses were amongst those that were hardest hit during the pandemic. We want to give those businesses the boost they need to get back on their feet.”
The crucial aspect of the initiative, Martin said, is that it won’t cost businesses a penny to get involved.
“Every business is currently under such huge cost pressures,” Martin said. “But with the Onwards Norfolk scheme, training those businesses would normally pay for, such as food safety accreditations for example, is completely free.”
Claire Brooks, licensee at Norwich pub the Walnut Tree Shades, said: “The training offered, such as conflict management, has been a fantastic opportunity for my staff. Usually, we would concentrate on the mandatory courses because of the cost, but these are fully funded.”
The training is particularly helpful for local start-ups. Norwich BID has even collaborated with the Department for Work and Pensions to allow the unemployed to retrain and participating businesses have also found that associated events are excellent opportunities for networking.
Norwich BID will look to renew its Purple Flag status later this year – a national accreditation scheme for city centres at night. It is the ‘gold standard’ for night-time destinations, which recognises Norwich as providing a vibrant and diverse mix of dining, entertainment and culture while promoting the safety and wellbeing of visitors and local residents.
“Night time economy businesses are a hugely important part of our sector as a key attractor of our tourism offer,” says Martin.
The night time economy is also a magnet for Norwich’s 20,000 university students, who provide a significant boost to the local economy.
Over the past decade, the evening and night time economy has shown a steady and sustained contribution to national GDP. It generates about 1.64pc or about £36.4 billion to the UK economy every year. It represents an average of 27pc of town and city centre turnover and approximately 32 million jobs are created in hotels, bars, restaurants, venues and clubs.
“We must not underestimate how important the leisure and hospitality sectors are to the success of the city,” said Martin.
Joanne Cox-Brown, director of Night Time Economy Solutions – the consultancy providing the Onwards Norfolk training – agrees.
“The night time economy is propping up our town centres,” she said. “The number of people employed within the industry increased by 8pc in the last year, which is fantastic coming out of Covid.”
The number of apprenticeships secured in the night time economy has also doubled in the last year.
“We're looking at a compound average growth of about 4.6pc, which is amazing,” Joanne said. “It's really important that we keep investing in this area because it's likely to grow more, especially for entry level jobs and young people gaining work experience.
“Domestic tourism is growing year-on-year as less people travel abroad due to Covid,” Joanne added. “Therefore, making sure that we have a high-quality tourism offer is vital.”
Night Time Economy Solutions is offering online and face-to-face training in everything from age verification, allergen awareness, equality and diversity, fire safety and food safety to health and safety and personal licence holder training. Each course would typically cost between £100 to £1,000 per person. But under the Onwards Norfolk scheme, local businesses can sign up to a maximum of 10 courses until the end of September – for free!
“It's really important that local businesses don't miss out on this incredible opportunity because it's not likely to come around again,” Joanne says. “The feedback we're getting from participating businesses is that they've seen a huge improvement in their performance and the way that their staff work.”
For more information, please visit www.onwardsnorfolk.co.uk
To sign up for free hospitality and leisure training, please visit www.nighttimeeconomy.com/onwards-norfolk
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