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Fri 6th Jul 2007

Nottinghamshire Enterprises has just received the results back from the Skills Direction project, customer evaluation survey that has recently been conducted. The results were outstanding with 98% of the projects customers rating the project as "Excellent" or "Very Good".

Skills Direction is a project aimed at small to medium sized companies within North Nottinghamshire and North Derbyshire. Its services are free and its objective is to help companies progress and develop through the following:

• Increasing the use of ICT within the organisation
• Training and Development
• Working with business start-ups
• Business Support

The project was funded by the Alliance SSP and the European Social Fund and began in March 2004 and since this time has proved extremely successful with a high uptake of local businesses. Nottinghamshire Enterprises have now secured the project for a further year due to their high achievements over the last 12 months.

The most popular area has been in training and development. The project offers a wide range of flexible training courses allowing organisations to tailor the training to meet their needs exactly. Recent training undertaken includes:

• The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Level 2 & 3
• E-Commerce
• IOSH Managing Safely
• European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL)
• Employment Law

The feedback has been very positive, the survey showed that 74% of people gained a recognised qualification, 72% of organisations increased their use of ICT and that not only have a number of jobs been safeguarded, but jobs have also been created as a result of the project. Below are just a few of the comments received:

• "The organisation and support of Nottinghamshire Enterprises was first class." Carolyn Wyeld of Abacus Lighting in Sutton-in-Ashfield

• "Excellent all round" Matthew Coles of DWL Engineering in Creswell

• "A worthwhile programme - very interactive and good training materials. Will use Skills Direction again." Barry Huddart of SafetyStoreUK.com in Annesley Woodhouse

Nickie Bennett, Project Manager said, "The project overall has been a great success, it was very well received and the outcome has lead to jobs being created and many being safeguarded. The "excellent" customer reviews are just the icing on the cake!"