Two young women working on their laptops in the Boathouse co-working space
Young woman working on her laptop in the Boathouse co-working space

Develop your team

Business Surrey provides support to businesses to help develop and grow your teams. We provide you with quick access to opportunities to help upskill your workforce.

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Helping people and companies grow

Access to workforce development schemes, training and education opportunities means businesses in Surrey can upskill their workforce to help people and companies grow.

Investing in workforce development not only helps businesses improve productivity but also helps them recruit, retain, and develop talent.

Business Surrey can help with workforce development by providing Surrey businesses with access to opportunities to upskill their workforce.

We offer support via various initiatives, such as Skills Bootcamps and Green Skills for Trades and Construction, to help you develop your team with skills for the 21st Century.

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Here are some of our current opportunities

Skills Bootcamps

Skills Bootcamps are partially funded, short-term training programmes designed to teach participants new skills and improve their existing ones.

If you are a business operating within key sectors (cyber, gaming, retrofit, trades and construction, sustainability, advanced engineering, or health and social care), you may be able to access discounted training for your employees.

Surrey Festival of Skills

Surrey Festival of Skills is a unique opportunity for key employers based in Surrey to promote their opportunities to school and college students.

The event in 2023 hosted over 80 exhibitors, such as Samsung, British Airways, Pfizer, Wates, Metro Bank and Balfour Beatty, connecting them with over 1300 young people from across the county.

Want to join us at the 2024 Surrey Festival of Skills on Tuesday 15th October? Visit the website and register your interest.

Green skills for trades and construction

Master the must-have trades of tomorrow today!

There are currently a number of free or partially funded green construction and retrofit training courses available to businesses in Surrey. These are designed to give your staff the knowledge and skills to make Surrey’s buildings more energy efficient. They include training in low-carbon heating systems such as heat pumps and solar energy.

Multiply

Improve your workforce’s numeracy skills.

Multiply is a nationally funded initiative offering easy access to free numeracy courses to boost your employee’s everyday maths skills.

Inspire Surrey

Work in digital, cyber and creative and looking to nurture Surrey’s future talent?

Inspire Surrey is bringing together dozens of businesses within this growing sector to raise awareness of opportunities in this growing sector to a range of new audiences.

Surrey Careers Hub

Are you passionate about helping schools and colleges shape the future of young people?

Surrey Careers Hub has a number of opportunities for businesses and their employees to support schools and colleges with inspiring young people about their world of work.

Discover if you can help by visiting the Surrey Careers Hub page.

Why skills matter

Surrey has a strong economy and vibrant business scene. However, businesses can be constrained by difficulties finding workers with the skills they need, leading to slower growth.

The Surrey Skills Plan was put in place to address this and other skills gap needs. The plan forms the strategic basis for delivering skills priorities in Surrey. It was designed to encompass all of Surrey’s businesses, skills providers and people.

The plan envisions a dynamic, demand-led skills system that fine-tunes Surrey’s Leading Edge, recognises the needs of all businesses, and maximises inclusion whilst powering economic growth across the UK.

One of the plan’s key objectives is to help businesses prosper by making our skills system more responsive to immediate, medium, and long-term needs.

Skills Bootcamps and Green Skills form part of the overall Surrey Skills Plan.

To find out more, download the Surrey Skills Plan.

Working with the education sector is a great way for businesses to connect with the next generation, play an active role in increasing diversity, help shape the skills of tomorrow’s workforce, and attract job and apprenticeship applicants.

Surrey Careers Hub nurtures tomorrow’s talent by building links between the education sector and local employers to deliver consistent, high-quality careers programmes for Surrey’s next-generation workforce.

Find out more about Surrey Careers Hub.

Surrey Careers Hub

Key stats

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Surrey residents

54% of Surrey residents are degree level qualified or higher

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Creative

45,000 people employed in creative and digital industries in Surrey

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