Highbury and Farnborough Colleges launch CoVE website

Highbury and Farnborough Colleges launch phase one of a new Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) website for the Business, Accounting and Financial Services industry. The website is aimed at providing businesses, individuals and students with information on a wide range of careers, courses and topical areas relating to Business, Accounting and Financial Services.

The website is part of an ongoing project derived from a national initiative developed by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to be ‘a national network of specialist Centres that would facilitate close links between colleges, business partners and other employment interests. CoVEs provide a resource to enable colleges to be more flexible and responsive, and sharply focused on meeting the skills needs of employers at local and sectoral levels. The Centres build on existing excellence and provide leadership in the development of future excellence.’ Source www.lsc.gov.uk

‘We ultimately aim at identifying and developing courses that are pertinent to the Business, Accounting and Financial Services industry and with the launch of the website we hope to attract employers, employees and students to engage with us and define what the future training requirements look like. Working closely with industry enables us to appreciate what training requirements we are expected to develop and deliver, we then establish by which training method for example, block release, in-house, flexible and distance in addition to our standard delivery methods of full and part time - really address the skills requirements. Said Jeff Browne, Head of Business, Accounting and Financial Services at Highbury college and CoVE manager.’

‘There is a need to work closely with businesses small and large within this industry in order to deliver an appropriately skilled workforce. The website enables us to disseminate our wealth of expertise and knowledge to a wider audience’, said Martin Horner Head of Hampshire Business School and co-manager of the CoVE.