England’s Northwest has arguably the highest concentration of Advanced Flexible Materials (AFM) companies in the world, with excellent prospects for future growth. AFM Materials are widely viewed as a ‘platform technology’ – a base upon which several other important clusters such as aerospace, automotive, chemicals, construction, biomedical, environmental technology, maritime and sport depend.

AFM Materials are characterised by high added value innovation and success in export markets, which support the region’s ambition to become a knowledge driven economy.

This new £600k project, which will see the development in skills in two key areas namely new product development and outsourcing, will allow employee skills to meet the needs of the industry, ensuring the region retains and can grow its market position.

Working with partners at NWtexnet, the Northwest regional cluster organisation for the AFM sector, the NWDA funding will provide specific training modules, train trainers, pilot the scheme and evaluate the results.

Mark Hughes, Executive Director of Enterprise and Skills, NWDA said:

“The NWDA has a key role within the region to ensure that training, education and skills development is meeting the needs of employers and key industries. The right skills are critical to the economic development of the region; ensuring vital sectors remain competitive and productive. In the case of the AFM market, this is even more important given the region’s high concentration of AFM companies and the potential to grow as Europe’s leading centre for the sector.”

Bill Mills, Director of NWtexnet, said:

“We are delighted to have received this funding and it demonstrates NWDA’s real commitment to the sector going forward. We are very lucky to have been able to engage the assistance of trainers such as Roger Warburton who is an acknowledged world expert in this field.”

The training course consisting of three days ‘classroom’ learning plus two day in-company coaching will be available from spring 2009, and will be aimed at anyone who has responsibility for developing new products or purchasing outsourced goods. Business leaders may also find that the course helps to develop a better strategy in product development and outsourcing. Full details will be available from www.nwtexnet.co.uk within the coming weeks.