GLOBAL RECESSION and RECOVERY Economic Challenge Investment Fund London Metropolitan University and sub-regional partners

Condition of funding Bids had to demonstrate that the proposed activities: Were additional to current HEI activities Fitted in with the priorities of partners and stakeholders Did not duplicate the activities that partners and stakeholders were undertaking to address the recession In fact, a test of the embeddness of a HEI’s relations with external economic organisations

Economic Challenge Investment Fund Launched by Higher Education Funding Council Objective: to enable Universities to respond rapidly to the needs of individuals and employers during the economic recession Duration of fund: 18 months April 2009-September 2010 Application: by competitive bidding Financial value: –£50 million made up of £25m from HEFCE match- funded by £25m from Universities and partners –Maximum funding for any one University £500,000

London Met’s proposal Geographical target area chosen by: What is definable and manageable in the time-frame High number of business sectors hit by recession Accessible and eligible populations Where recession aid activity already prioritised = The City and the City fringes

Target strategic partners and stakeholders Met with senior representatives of: City of London Corporation London boroughs of Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets London First London Development Agency Result = agreement to support LondonMet bid and commit match-funding in kind

Target delivery partners Met with: Business Link in London JobCentrePlus Hackney, City & Islington and Tower Hamlets FE Colleges, City of London Adult Education Services, all applying to LSC recession fund Corporate recruitment agency: Fresh Minds Business brokerages: eg East London Business Place

Target Populations Employees facing redundancy or in fear of redundancy Employees in worse hit sectors: finance and banking; legal services; PR and marketing; also support services in IT, HR, finance, general management and administration City supply chain businesses SMEs facing difficult market conditions Graduating students 2009 and 2010 Recent alumni

Activity Streams Recession Recovery Centres ‘One-stop-shop’ for information, advice and referral Venue in main libraries in 4 areas provided by partners. Promotional material provided and appointments made by librarian staff Sessions with professional counselling, assessment, workshops, referral to providers of appropriate service. enquiry service and a web2 site

Upskilling and Re-Training Career assessment and advice Demand-led courses of varied length, delivered flexibly in a variety of venues Entry to LondonMet’s accredited courses of up to one year Establish action learning sets Tailor-made training and development programmes for employers as part of severance or retainer packages Referal to FE colleges and to other HEI providers Activity Streams

Employability Skills for London Met Students Build on current ‘Leading London’ corporate recruitment programme by providing an intensive programme of: Skills assessment and advice Generic and transferable skills training Preparation for employment and ‘ready-for-work' aptitudes Specific courses tailored to skills gaps e.g. business numeracy; communication Input from employers

Activity Streams Enhancing Enterprise Helping SMEs cope with recession Business survival training for SMEs Product and process innovation advice for SMEs Business start-up advice and training Virtual business incubation Referral to Business Link Intensify and expand the LondonMet Student Enterprise Programme Promote awareness of self-owned businesses as an alternative to employment Increase and intensify the entrepreneurial training course Provide support from business mentors and business angels Provide incentives and rewards through cash prizes for business ideas and business plans

Governance and Management of Project Steering Group of senior LondonMet managers and nominated leaders of the strategic external partners Four Intervention Groups, comprising academics, multi-agency professionals and practitioners for (a) Recession Recovery Centres, (b) Up-skilling and Re-training, (c) Student Employability d) Enhancing Enterprise Communications and Marketing Task Group, involving PR specialists from the strategic partners Project management by LondonMet project team