SOUTH Worcestershire College is striving to be more responsive to the needs of local employers and to develop closer partnerships with schools by appointing a director of business development.

As part of its strategy the college has appointed Perry Perrott to the new position.

Mr Perrott was previously head of the Technology Academy at the college and has been at the forefront of emerging and developing technologies, especially within the engineering sector.

He brings with him a wealth of experience in building excellent partnership arrangements for example developing engineering training with ROTEC Engineering.

Mr Perrott will be supported by a business development team, who will be dedicated to developing apprenticeships and to meeting the training needs of local employers.

"We know from experience we can work together with local employers to enable them to enhance the skills of their existing workforce and improve their staff retention rates," said Mr Perrott. "These are vital factors in improving the bottom line of the business."

It has also just been announced South Worcestershire College has been approved to provide free training to small and medium sized engineering and manufacturing businesses in Worcestershire. This approval has been granted by Worcestershire Business Central and means training provided under this initiative is fully funded by the European Social Fund.

Worcestershire based engineering or manufacturing business interested should contact business@sworcs.ac.uk to find out more.