Developing a Skills Strategy for Wigan

Steer Economic Development was commissioned by Wigan Borough Council to develop the evidence base and strategic framework for a refreshed Skills and Employment Strategy, and then produce a clear and cohesive Action Plan.

Steer Economic Development’s work provided evidence and intelligence – quantified and qualitative - to help identify those world-class skills and talents that Wigan needs to keep pace with technology and market change. With such skills and talents identified, the intention was to understand how these could enable local enterprise productivity, business growth, investment attraction, and increased wealth and economic participation for residents.

The work was ‘co-produced’ with Wigan’s Employment and Skills stakeholders, and wider partners in the Greater Manchester economy. This thoroughgoing approach had local insight and ownership at its core so that as we (as external advisers) stepped back at the end of the study, local stakeholders can pick up the baton and maintain forward momentum.

Against this context, the study’s deliverables are three-fold:

• A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of the Employment and Skills landscape in Wigan;
• A Strategic Framework which addresses the issues identified in the SWOT and Skills evidence base; and
• A headline level Action Plan, setting out how the Strategic Framework can be translated from concept into operating reality.