Skills and Training

Effective management and development of your staff can help your business improve its performance and achieve key objectives, however, developing your workforce’s skills takes time and can be costly, it is therefore important to plan an effective development programme.

For a range of guides about developing your skills and the skills of your workforce, please visit Business Link.

Employers Guide to Skills Support

A wide range of support is available to any employer wanting help with recruiting staff; training and developing their existing workforce or needing assistance with employment relations matters, such as communicating more effectively with employees. The Employers Guide to Skills (PDF, 2.25MB) has been developed for employers by employers themselves, with the simple aim of providing brief, easily understandable information on what help is available, and how to access it.

Investors in People

The Investors in People standard provides a flexible framework, which any organisation can adapt for its own requirements. An `Investor in People' develops effective strategies to improve the performance of the organisation through its people. To find out more about becoming an `Investor in People' and why it may benefit your organisation, please visit the Investors in People website.

Learn Direct

Learn Direct can help you create a structured programme of learning to suit your business. They offer a wide range of online courses that can be completed in small chunks and at a time and place convenient to you. They also offer training that can be completed at work or in a Learn Direct centre.  To find out more, please visit the Learn Direct website.

Chambers of Commerce

All of the Chambers in Cheshire East offer various Information Technology courses. 

South Cheshire Chamber also offers a wide variety of business skills and management training, such as 'Dealing with Difficult Customers', 'Absence Management' and 'Presentation Skills'.

Macclesfield Chamber can offer First Aid and Health and Safety courses.

All Chamber courses are open to non-members as well as members, though members can usually expect a discount.

To find out more about the courses available, please contact your Chamber of Commerce

CRISP

The Creative Industries Support Project (CrISP) is a free service, to help creative businesses in Cheshire and Warrington achieve growth through skills development. Please contact CrISP for further information on the support and advice they can offer.

Manchester Metropolitan University

The University has developed a wide range of training and professional development courses, tailored to business needs.  For further information, please visit the business section of the Manchester Metropolitan University website.