1. London South FE colleges employer responsiveness project –

2. Scale of the challenge Future adult FE funding will necessitate fundamental change By 2010, TtG will account for 40% of the adult skills budget, and 60% by 2013. This will have important implications for colleges in London…

3. 8% 92% B2B income LSC Funding Current balance of funding of the average GFE in London South Only 2.7% of non-LSC income is Full Cost Recovery i.e. not publicly subsidised Average turnover: £18.2m Based on a sample of 6 FE colleges within the SHM programme in London South

4. Potential shifts in Adult FE income … Possible future balance of adult funding? 33.3% Potential shift in the learning market – with providers able to draw on a wider range of income streams (public subsidy, employer-funded, individual-funded)

5. Outline of the Project Four phases: 1.Marketing & employer engagement review 2.Cultural development for senior college staff 3.Workshops to develop skills of key staff 4.Networking Event

6. Participating Colleges- South Merton Bromley RACC Croydon Coulsdon Richmond - Upon- Thames

7. 1 st Phase Marketing review comprises the following activities:- Interviews with key college personnel Mystery Shopper Review of marketing collateral Interview with clients

8. Mystery Shopper - results Call answering Some providers (albeit minority) do not have sufficient resources to ensure calls are answered promptly on first call Call handling Providers have an absence of internal processes for effective call handling Calls can be internally redirected over 3 times during an enquiry Switchboard operators need to be briefed and trained to recognise a B2B enquiry and deal with it appropriately

9. Outcome of Mystery Shopper Diagnostic questioning Providers tend not to undertake routine diagnostic questioning Quote production Ability to easily produce quality quotes is very patchy

10. Mystery shopper summary: London South Colleges in random order Call answered (main switchboard) Call transferred once Diagnostic Questioning Written quote 1 2 3 Handled by switchboard 43 times 5 Alternate call made to course enquiry line 3 times 62 times 7

11. Provisional Benchmarks: London South Turnover £000 B2B Income £000 B2B Contribution % FCR Income £000 FCR Contribution % South18,2201,4108.04962.9 Region24,0391,9638.24782.0 Notes B2B income defined as Train To Gain, ESF, other public subsidy (eg LDA), facilities hire, etc. Excludes Richmond Upon Thames and Coulsdon College.

12. Key structural components to performance

13. Emerging Themes There remains variability across the region in terms of colleges' capability and appetite for employer engagement (B2B activities) The sector has low investment in marketing (0.1% of total turnover) There is very little B2B marketing activity (£150k in total) and insufficient sales leads There are few examples of professional sales organisations across the sector

14. Emerging Themes Train To Gain is failing to deliver significant revenue streams and target achievement is at risk Full cost recovery revenues are relatively low The sector has little engagement with local authorities – the natural customer for FE Colleges face significant issues around internal processes in terms of inbound query handling, sourcing training (product), billing and measurement Inbound query handling is inconsistent and not fit for purpose

15. Potential solutions As result of the programme a number of potential solutions have been identified: Integrated B2B marketing Corporate structure Inbound query handling via a separate in-bound channel for business customers Effective targeting

16. Next steps Each College has now agreed a Marketing Assessment & Cultural Assessment report The Cultural workshop report contains specific recommendations & options for forward strategy LSC Partnership teams will work closely to support College teams on implementation Future regional support under review