Lord Young of Norwood Green visited Fashion Enter on Tuesday 24 October 2017 as part of his Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) Fellowship programme focusing on skills and apprenticeships.
Fashion Enter is a London based not for profit social enterprise, with over 100 employees, as well as 15 additional personnel that are available for specialist advice and back up support. It was established in 2006 by CEO Jenny Holloway after the closure of the London Fashion Forum and looks at supporting the fashion industry though the promotion of skills and development.
During the visit Lord Young was able to see first-hand how Fashion Enter aims to provide British made quality garment production whilst maintain a centre of excellence for training and development in the fashion industry.
A highlight of the visit for Lord Young was seeing the Fashion Technology Academy (FTA), a collaboration with Fashion Enter’s sister company to Fashion Capital, Haringey Council, DWP and global e-tailer ASOS.com, which was opened in 2016 as a technical training provision for accredited qualifications.
The visit helped to highlight the importance of innovation, skills and apprenticeships training within the fashion industry. This was particularly evident with the FTA, which seeks to fill the skills gap by training over 1,000 people a year by 2019, in turn opening up job opportunities and encouraging growth in the local manufacturing sector.
Lord Young’s Fellowship is helping him to further his knowledge of the way in which organisations are training their apprentices to fulfil the demand for highly skilled people in order to boost the workforce of the future.
Commenting on the visit Lord Young said:
“It was fantastic to visit Fashion Enter today and I would like to thank the IPT and Fashion Enter for organising this visit. It was great to see first-hand the skills, training and apprentices that drive this ever-changing industry, as well as hear what they are doing on a day-to-day basis.”
Jenny Holloway, Fashion Enter CEO added:
“It was fantastic to host Lord Young today, our training always includes time on the factory floor and our apprentices get the chance to integrate what is learnt in the classroom into the work environment. Lord Young obviously has a passion for skills and apprenticeships and it was great to be able to showcase what Fashion Enter is doing within an ever-changing industry.”