A scheme is being launched to help plug a "skills shortage" in Brighton.

The Brighton and Hove Learning Partnership (BHLP) says shoddy communication and numeracy skills are costing the city's companies millions each year.

High staff turnover, budget and order errors, customer complaints and problems filling vacancies are all symptoms of a poorly equipped workforce, according to the group.

To combat the problem, it is recruiting volunteers to act as "learning champions" by encouraging employers to make training an integral part of their business model.

Learning champions will be people who already enjoy good relations with the business community, such as economic development officers or leaders of trade associations.

They will go into companies on an informal basis, identify skills needs, and then refer bosses to a network of people development advisers who can link them up with training providers.

Jess Sumner, head of the BHLP, said: "We want learning champions to act as a conduit between business and training providers.

"In a way we are piggy-backing on the good relationship they already have with businesses to encourage a culture of training.

"The impact of poor skills on profits and productivity is huge but a lot of businesses never consider training as a solution.

"I don't think this is a reluctance on their part, it is just something some never think about because, understandably, they have other things to think about.

"Hopefully once they have put staff through training and they can see the benefits to their bottom line it will become part of a wider culture of training across business."

According to business support organisation Sussex Enterprise, a quarter of workers in the county have the most basic qualifications or none at all.

But research commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) showed a third of employers across the UK had no staff training plan in place.

The BHLP wants to recruit 130 learning champions across Brighton and Hove and East Sussex. Since the scheme's launch in November, 30 have come forward.

An induction session for would-be learning champions is being held at the Brighthelm Centre, North Road, on January 25.

Anyone interested is invited to the meeting.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006