Lincolnshire's Leadership and Management Centre

This project has been developed as a result of the independently conducted ‘Lincolnshire Management Development Centre Market Feasibility Study’ which concluded that:

• The rationale for a leadership and management centre is clear, it would support current strategic context and would receive broad support from public and private sector stakeholders.

   

• Any created centre must reach out across the county, region and nationally.

   

• Historical Lincoln would provide a key pull location.

   

• A leadership and management development centre could alleviate Lincolnshire’s low and falling GDP per capita.

   

• A centre would support and drive an improvement in the skills position (almost one third of adults in Lincolnshire have no qualifications). The county also has a lower proportion of people with Level 3, or higher (21%), qualifications than the region (24%) and England (28%).

   

• A centre would support the development of the limited new and technology-based industry emerging in the county (i.e. potential to support increased GVA, job creation etc).

   

The private sector led Lincolnshire & Rutland Employment and Skills Board formally endorsed the project. This project builds upon the following recommendations by the Board:

• The importance of bespoke products (linking into the sectors and size of local businesses), not necessarily MBAs or adapted first degree provision.

   

• The importance of provision being employer-responsive, flexible and not either perceived as, or actually being ‘ivory-tower led’.

   

• The importance of recognising prior work based achievement and to ensure programmes integrate with work to minimise managers time away from their organisation.

   

• The need to maximise accessibility of programmes to those managers qualified by experience rather than by formal qualifications.

   

• The need and opportunity to ensure that provision has reach across the whole of Lincolnshire (for example the coastal zone) and for linkages with Rutland.

   

• Provision should be accessible to all larger companies, not just tailored to SMEs. Some larger companies would be willing to invest in and support suitable programmes.

   

• Provision should take into account the needs of junior and middle managers as well as existing senior leaders.

   

There are no other organisations in the UK that are providing the same solution and approach as that proposed. The offering and focus suggested is distinctive from that provided by any other higher education institute in the UK.

Effective outreach activity, particularly across Lincolnshire and Rutland will be at the heart of the LLMC’s delivery model.

The University of Lincoln is only 10 years old and this project represents a major step forward in developing links between it and the business community. It provides a critical next element in ensuring that the local and regional economies fully benefit from a developing world-class education system in Lincolnshire.

Project aims:

The project will create a 468m² facility with the infrastructure to support training and development in leadership and management skills across Lincolnshire and beyond. This project builds on the recommendations of the Lincolnshire & Rutland Employment and Skills Board.