RNN Group at the North Notts Business Expo: Building Skills for Regional Growth
The RNN Group was proud to attend the North Notts Business Expo, where we showcased how our campuses; North Notts College, Rotherham College, Dearne Valley College, and the University Centre Rotherham, are equipping students with the skills employers are calling for.
Our focus for the day was on how education and business must work hand in hand to close the regional skills gaps highlighted by local employers.
Through initiatives like Skills for Employment, we’re aligning training with industry demand, ensuring students are ready for work from day one. This programme brings employers into the curriculum design process and supports upskilling, reskilling, and employability across key sectors.
Regional collaboration for growth
At the expo, we heard from, among others, Bassetlaw District Council, North Notts BID, and the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) on their plans for economic expansion and skills investment over the next five years.
Craig Taylor, Director of Regeneration & Neighbourhoods at Bassetlaw District Council, shared:
“This is what businesses and education have told us through this study: It’s actually saying: What courses actually are required? What investment? And this is where we’ll come knocking on the door of the likes of EMCCA to say, this has been identified through a robust process of the strategic need for skills investment here and those courses will then be developed from there and commissioned through that process.”
This collaborative approach mirrors our own mission at RNN Group; to make education a direct response to regional economic need and to equip our students with the best possible opportunities as the venture out into their careers.
Strengthening technical skills through industry Partnerships
We also met with our partners at Step Fusion, who are helping shape the future of fusion energy skills. Their cutting-edge robotic technologies operate in environments where humans cannot. From the extreme heats from the core, to the extreme colds of the magnets, to vacuum conditions.
Together, we’re preparing students for the next generation of clean, sustainable energy and engineering opportunities taking us from Fossil to Fusion.
Read more about our partnership with Step Fusion
Empowering enterprise and mobility
The RNN Group also explored opportunities with EMCCA and Bassetlaw District Council to run entrepreneurship and start-up workshops, supporting students who aspire to freelance, innovate, or scale their own businesses after college.
Edward Highfield, Executive Director of Place, explained:
“The Mayor is extremely keen around transport as an enabler for social mobility, for inclusion. Particularly young people getting to jobs, young people getting to skills and training, for students being able to get that subsidised travel into college every day.”
Our ongoing commitment
The Expo reinforced the responsibility we share as educators: to not only deliver qualifications but to equip students with the skills and experiences local industries urgently need and are calling for.
As the East Midlands, moves forward with its ambitious growth strategy, the RNN Group remains committed to being at the heart of that progress. Ensuring our learners are ready to make an impact on the region’s future. We are very grateful to North Notts BID for inviting us to attend such a terrific event.