Need a job? Head to the South East Midlands
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AN ADDITIONAL 285,000 logistics positions will need to be filled across the South East Midlands between 2014 and 2020, a new report has revealed.
The South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), in conjunction with Skills for Logistics (Sit), unveiled a five-year logistics strategy for the region this month. The 58-page Logistics Report calls for an urgent need to recruit new as well as younger people into the sector; retain and train up existing staff; as well as the need to change and transform the image of logistics
so that it is viewed as a more viable choice of career.
"Logistics is critical to the South East Midlands and our central location, which makes us the most accessible area in the country," said councillor Mary Clarke, SEMLEP director and chair of the SEMLEP Logistics Group. "It is a key logistics hotspot, and this report underpins our commitment to supporting the 91,700-plus people already working in logistics in the SEMLEP area. It will also create new jobs and a skilled workforce to
take the sector forward," she added.
Sit will support SEMLEP throughout the five-year plan, getting local haulage and logistics firms engaged with training providers, and making use of its various tools, such as the Professional Development Stairway.
Ross Moloney, chief executive of Sit, said: "We are proud to be working with SEMLEP to launch the first of what will be a network of similar LEP initiatives in logistics hotspots across the UK." • For more information, log on to semlep.com or skillsforlogistics.org