University College Isle of Man (UCM) has welcomed representatives from across a wide range of industries on the Island to explore skills gaps and future areas of growth.
The Curriculum Planning Day was held at UCM’s Nunnery Campus and welcomed representatives from across industry including Appleby, Astrea Bioseparations, Boston Ltd, Burnbrae Ltd, Cayman National Bank, CCI Group, Chamber of Commerce, KPMG, Manx Solar Electrical, Manx Telecom, Strix, The Empress Hotel, The Mannin Hotel and Utmost, as well as representatives from across Government.
Throughout the day, managers from UCM’s faculties and senior leadership team worked with external representatives to explore what the most important skills are that each sector is currently looking for, the potential skills requirements for the future, new markets and what delivery models are best for each sector.
Vice Principal Jo Richardson commented: ‘Our Curriculum Planning Day was a fantastic and invaluable opportunity for us to get together formally with a wide range of experts and employers to look at the trends and requirements for skills over the next five to ten years. At UCM, we’re proud to have strong links with industry and to regularly have conversations with them about skill gaps and requirements. However, we were keen to make this a formal event, to involve all parts of our faculty and explore this important topic in a more structured way.
‘It’s important that now, more than ever, we’re supporting our community through providing high quality, relevant education, training and learning to ensure that our students have the skills they need for their careers now and to support the future developments of the Island.’
Claire Whitelegg, Head of Compliance and Risk from FIM Capital Limited added: ‘‘I was delighted to be invited to this event by UCM and am excited to be working closely with the University College to help develop what students are learning. As a local company with 46 employees, FIM Capital know the importance of having quality local employees with a “can do” attitude who can join the workforce already skilled and ready to work. It’s been a great opportunity for us to contribute to this conversation and we look forward to working with UCM further.’
Representatives from across Government departments included the Department for Enterprise (DFE), Business Isle of Man, Digital Isle of Man, Finance Isle of Man, Locate Isle of Man, Visit Isle of Man, the Department for Education, Sport and Culture (DESC) and the Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA).