New data shows that 600 Apprenticeships have been delivered in Bedford & Kempston in the last year, up 70% on the previous year.

Richard, who recently visited Ultra Precision Engineering in Kempston, where they have just taken on two new apprentices from the Bedford Training Group, said that the record rise in apprenticeship numbers shows commitment to helping employers train the skilled workers they need to build a stronger, growing economy. He added that companies like Ultra Precision Engineering are providing a vital role in skills development.

He was also delighted with the Government’s announcement that it will offer cash bonuses to employers for taking on an apprentice aged between 16 and 24 and urges companies in Bedford and Kempston to take up this opportunity.

For more information on apprenticeships, please visit this link.

Richard and Cllr Caroline Fensome with founders Karen Fryc and Sam Price

Richard met with the founders of the Castle Quarter initiative, Karen Fryc and Sam Price, last Friday to discuss their plans for the east side of Bedford.

Karen & Sam talked through their manifesto for Castle Quarter, the area in and around the Embankment, St Cuthbert’s, Castle Road and Mill Street which is aiming to celebrate and promote the quarter to attract people from outside the town to visit.

Richard said:

“My views are completely aligned with what the Castle Quarter group are trying to achieve. A few years ago, I wrote to the then Mayor, Frank Branston, about the town centre redevelopment suggesting that Bedford needed a unique offering that reflected the special characteristics of the town and that we should promote area clusters with their own special identities. This is precisely what Castle Quarter is trying to achieve.

“In tough economic times, with family budgets tight, we need to nurture and support our local shops. Castle Quarter is a great step forward and a model the rest of the town can follow.”

A new, local initiative aimed at invigorating the economic recovery by investing in a new generation of start up and early stage businesses is planned for Bedford. One hundred local business leaders from Bedford attended the launch by MP, Richard Fuller at the University of Bedfordshire.

The proposed Fund, which will be advised by local business leaders and managed by South East Fund Managers Limited, an FSA regulated entity, will seek to raise an initial fund of £500,000 in units of £10,000.

This will be boosted by co-investment from Finance South East and national government schemes, with a potential total of £2 million.  Investments will be made on a purely commercial basis, with the goal of maximizing financial returns to investors.

The initiative has the active support of Cranfield University, Colworth Science Park on the Unilever campus, the University of Bedfordshire and Bedfordshire on Sunday.

An advisory panel of local business people will be formed, with Nick Kier, partner, Lane & Holmes and Dougie Hunter, Chief Executive, Aircraft Research Association Limited, leading the effort.

Richard said:

“Bedford and the surrounding area have a wealth of business opportunities. This initiative aims to bring together all the local experience and talent of current business owners in order to inspire and support the next generation of businesses and provide the investment they need to prosper.  Feedback from the folks at the meeting was encouraging and we are off to a good start with indications of interest already for half our target for the Fund.”

Dougie Hunter, Chief Executive of ARA Limited added:

“I am very happy to play a part in moving this initiative forward and I look forward to meeting the challenge of putting together an advisory panel of business leaders to help with the Fund.”

Sally Goodsell, Chief Executive of the FSE Group said:

“We are very pleased to be involved with this unique initiative led by Richard Fuller and the Business Community of Bedford. We look forward to backing innovative ambitious businesses in the Bedford area and playing a part in their growth and success”.

A business mentoring scheme is also proposed asking local business people to share their expertise with the entrepreneurs and business leaders of tomorrow and strengthening businesses in difficult economic times.

Richard said:

“A leading reason why early stage businesses fail is because they make a small mistake which they could have avoided with some advice from someone with experience.  Business executives have limited time, but do have a personal and commercial interest in promoting success of the next generation of business leaders. The mentoring scheme will make this expertise available for those who can benefit from it.”

For more information on the fund please contact Sally Goodsell at Finance South East (sally.goodsell@financesoutheast.com).

For more information on the mentoring scheme please contact Richard (richard.fuller.mp@parliament.uk).

Richard with Jake Marsden (PV Installer) at Carillion

Bedford MP Richard Fuller has praised local company, Carillion Energy Services for its commitment to training and apprenticeships.

The MP was keen to see how the company was creating sustainable jobs in Bedford and the impact that this was having upon skills in the area.

Mr Fuller met senior managers and also had the opportunity to speak first hand with renewable installation engineer, Jake Marsden who gained vital training on the installation of solar photovoltaic panels at the Academy and qualified fully in October 2010.

Richard said: “I was really pleased to see first hand the scale of the Training Academy and I am particularly proud that Carillion Energy Services have chosen to use Bedford as the location for their UK Training Academy. Green Skills and employment are vital to the development of both the local and wider economy and here in Bedford, we are actively involved in developing these.”

Carillion Energy Services are at the forefront of the low carbon economy and have a strong commitment to the training of apprentices on eco-skills such as heating, insulation and renewable technologies particularly solar photo voltaic. In 2010, the wider Carillion group sponsored 2500 apprentices across the business.

Graham Tidball, Director of Contracting, “We were really pleased to welcome Mr Fuller to the Training Academy and see first hand the excellent facilities that we have. We have had over 150 trainees attend Solar Photo Voltaic training through the Academy and many of these have now gone on to work on our Clean Energy Programme which installs Solar Photovoltaic on the properties of Housing Associations at no extra cost to the tenant, but can result in financial savings to the householder as well as making a real climate change impact. We believe that there are genuine opportunities in this sector which is why we are committed to building what we call a green collar workforce – here in Bedford and indeed throughout our business.”

Richard recently visited Cranfield University Technology Park to learn more about the leading innovative businesses based there and the technical advancements being made in the region.

Screenetics, Prolite and Cabair – all based at the Technology Park’s Innovation Centre – gave tours of their offices and explanations of their latest innovations to the MP, who also took part in a flight simulation provided by Cabair. The three businesses exemplify the type of organisation that is attracted to Cranfield University, which aims to encourage and facilitate the development of knowledge-based businesses.

Richard was impressed with what he saw, commenting:

“The businesses I visited compete in very different sectors but they share the same passion for entrepreneurship. We need to nurture that passion to create the next generation of businesses and jobs, and Cranfield University Technology Park has a critical role to play in making that happen.”

During the Budget Debate on the 23rd March, Richard praised a number of the Chancellor’s announcements and put forward a few ideas of his own.

His contribution to the Debate can be found here.

As the Prime Minister of this discredited Parliament was heading to the Palace to seek a dissolution, we were looking forward to electing a new Government under David Cameron’s leadership, by winning the key seat of Bedford and Kempston.

Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, highlighted the importance of winning the seat by making Bedford the first stop in his countrywide campaign to stop Labour’s Job Tax.  Labour’s proposed tax on jobs would hit local people hard – many are already struggling to find work, with local unemployment way up on the regional average and nearly double what it was when Labour came to power in 1997.  Labour’s Job Tax will snuff out, not nurture, the recovery and to listen to Labour ministers claim that it would help employment just goes to show how out of touch they are.

George and I visited The Charles Wells brewery and we were given a tour around talking to people on the bottling line as well as the chief brewer.  We also caught a few moments to chat with Tom Wells and the key managers to discuss the impact of Labour’s proposed Jobs Tax and to listen to how the next Conservative government can help strengthen local businesses.

Richard with participants in the Evening with the Entrepreneurs Event at Bedford College

The question that is most on the minds of people when I chat with them on the doorstep is “What can we do about the economy?”

People know that the country’e economy is in a mess – and they will render their judgement on those responsible when the time comes.  They know it is tough to answer all the questions; that there is no magic wand that can wave away the colossal debts racked up by the Government.  What people are looking for is a clear way forward and for leaders who can inspire confidence and who can lead.

Well, Bedford College was the venue in late March for a panel of leaders of business and social enterprise; people who can inspire, who have led, and who had very clear views of the way forward.  Their audience was the next generation of leaders – those in our upper schools, our colleges and other young people who have an idea, an inspiration of their own – and who were looking for advice and guidance about how to move forward.  You can see a video clip from Local News TV below:

Hosted by Irfan Latif, Deputy Head of Bedford School, the panellists took turns to describe their passion for what they do, how they got a start in life and what drives them forward.  First up was Adele Blakebrough, a pioneer in social enterprise and founder of the Breakthrough Foundation.  Damon Buffini, the Chairman of Permira spoke next and spoke of his work with Fairbridge, a nationwide charity that helps young people in to work.

Tim Campbell, the winner of the TV show “The Apprentice” spoke about the motivations from his childhood, about working with Alan Sugar and of his current project, The Bright Ideas Trust, that invests in businesses started up by young people in London.  Next up was our own, Lance Haggith, founder of Sports Traider and he was followed by Shaa Wasmund, who spoke directly of the drive that came from her experiences at school and which led her to work for Chris Eubanks, Bob Geldof and James Dyson.

Sparking, nurturing, investing behind and supporting entrepreneurial talent is the key to our country’s future success.  We have enormous talents here in Bedford and Kempston, and also across our nation – talents that can revolutionise our social services, create breakthrough ideas and build world beating companies.  Government can help to enable those who aspire; it can break down barriers that inhibit people from stepping forward with their idea; it can encourage people to take entrepreneurial risks; it can reward those who succeed from those risks, and for those who fail, give them a second chance to learn from their mistakes by trying again.

It was an exceptional panel discussion, expertly hosted by Irfan Latif who managed to draw out common themes and produce a vivid picture of entrepreneurship that can inspire a new generation of Bedfordians.

Judy Oliver and Local News TV joined with the Local Chamber of Commerce and University of Bedfordshire to host a “Question Time”. Panellists included the three parliamentary candidates plus Cheryl Smart, acting CEO of The Chamber of Commerce and Jules Salder, President of the Students Union.  Video from the event is available here.

Jim Lawrence, Chief Financial Officer of Unilever PLC, was my guest at the inaugural meeting of Bedford Futures Business Club.  Unilever is a major local employer and I toured their Colworth facility learning about Unilever’s new conference centre and their advances in ice cream technology!

Welcoming Jim Lawrence, Chief Financial Officer, Unilever PLC at the Embankment Hotel, Bedford

Jim spoke about Unilever’s recession beating strategies and expressed support for my campaigns to strengthen Bedford as a business location.

When I was growing up in Bedford there were many large employers providing local jobs.  I am determined to rebuild our economic strength and give our young people real opportunities for a good local job.  The Member of Parliament should always be reaching out to business leaders, speaking up for Bedford and promoting the advantages of our town and our people.