Bodmin Chamber had its inaugural podcast on the 17 January at Cornwall Channel Studios on Bodmin Moor. Organised like clockwork by the irrepressible Shane Solomon and his amazing team, we took our first steps into the world of podcasting with a small group of members and representatives of other local businesses.
We were, unfortunately, constrained with numbers by Covid, but we had a great evening with refreshments and lots of time to chat and network. Many of the attendees hadn’t seen the Cornwall Channel facility before and were taken on a tour to see the newly refurbished and remodeled studios.
Our Podcast host and guests
The podcast was hosted by Russell Cosway, Chamber Director and owner of Gydeline. Russell is a broadcast veteran with his own podcast, The Green Elephant Show, so we were in safe hands. He was joined by:
- Mark Talbot, Director of Emerging Technologies at Bodmin College
- Tom Moran from Truro and Penwith College and Head of the STEM & Health Skills Centre at Callywith College
- Harriet Filewood from Bodmin-based Tanist IT Solutions.
Our topic: The Skills Problem
The podcast was themed around the skills shortages affecting many local businesses in different sectors.
Like so many local businesses, Tanist struggles to find staff with the skills it needs to thrive. Harriet specifically mentioned problems Tanist has experienced, including finding education providers for apprenticeships they are keen to develop. Succession planning is especially difficult when there are too few young people coming up to fill the middle management and senior roles in the future.
Bodmin College is expanding their faculty to offer more workplace skills and Truro and Penwith will shortly be opening their new STEM & Health Skills building at Callywith College. They are very keen to talk to local businesses to find out what the training needs are and to find work placements for the older students.
And it isn’t always just about young people. There is a real need to address the problem of retraining mature students and bringing people back to the workplace.
A solution!
As is so often the case when we dig down to find out the causes of our problems, we discover a communication issue to be resolved. It seems that it can be difficult for businesses and education providers to find each other.
Bodmin Chamber is keen to help bridge the gap between local businesses and educators and facilitate meaningful dialogues that will break down barriers and enable smoother and more successful transitions between learning and working.
We will continue this work at our Chamber event on the 21 March, a tour of the new Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) & Health Skills Centre at Callywith College that will offer post-16 education in these key areas needed by so many businesses. All businesses are invited who would like to learn more about these skills.
Watch the show!
About our guest organisations
Bodmin College
Callywith College
Callywith College provides comprehensive tertiary education of the same outstanding quality delivered at the Truro and Penwith campuses. Truro and Penwith College owns Callywith College and it currently constucting the STEM and Health Skills Centre adjacent to the established site.
Tanist IT Solutions
Tanist are dedicated to helping businesses generate more income by improving their IT services. They work with small and large businesses across the Southwest of England specialising in IT Support,Wi-Fi extensions,Broadband Management, Property Monitoring and Website Development.
