A SKILLS Cafe is being held next week in Cleckheaton for SMEs as part of Bradford Manufacturing Weeks.

The Skills Service, which is managed by the West Yorkshire Consortium of College, and funded by the European Social Fund, is inviting local firms working in manufacturing, advanced manufacturing and textiles to the event.

It will be held on Friday, October 25, at Hub 26 in Cleckheaton.

As part of this year’s Bradford Manufacturing Weeks, the event will offer a free taste of the training available through The Skills Service with a free workshop in Change Management, chosen because of the current economic uncertainty.

The morning will also include an industry update from a key partner of the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges, plus the opportunity to discuss training needs and ideas with a skills advisor who can help find the solution and funding.

The Skills Service offers businesses in the Leeds City Region 40 per cent funding towards workforce training, free support and advice on skills and access to more than 1,200 courses readily available in the Skills Catalogue.

Starting at 8.30am, the morning will begin with Coffee with The Skills Service where businesses can find out about funding for workforce training through the European Social Fund and how The Skills Service can help access it and find the right courses over a coffee.

At 9am, the Textile Centre of Excellence will give a short presentation and on the textile industry and its parity to the broader manufacturing industry including market trends, skills issues, challenges and opportunities, training offer, emerging occupations and an introduction to the Let's Talk Real Skills project.

Bradford based ITS Group who are a contracted training provider of The Skills Service, will then deliver a workshop at 9.30am, entitled Changing the Way we Think About Change.

Michael Astrop, Business Skills Lead, will run an interactive session, using his experience of working with manufacturing businesses throughout the UK, to explore the attitudes and mindsets of those who work in our businesses can be changed to meet the significant challenges of the future.

The workshop is suitable for anybody who manages or works with people

Businesses can book online through Eventbrite or through westyorkshirecolleges.co.uk.

Alternatively firms can drop in between 8.30am and 11.30am for a free skills planning session with a Skills Advisor .

The Skills Service Skills Café is part of the monthly sector campaign running through 2019 to highlight the opportunities available to businesses across a range of sectors in the Leeds City Region. The project is receiving up to £7 million from the European Social Fund.