Sheffield Hallam University has successfully bid for funding to co-develop courses alongside industry partners to help retain talented graduates in the Sheffield City Region.
The University received £200k from the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s (HEFCE) Catalyst Fund to develop a Future Leaders programme that will support long-term leadership development, talent retention and business growth.
Working with employers, the project will help provide the skills needed in the future economy and support the aims of the Industrial Strategy across a range of sectors.
The funding, alongside additional investment from the University, employers and other partners will be used to understand the regional challenges through research and analysis before co-designing a course to offer a solution to those barriers.
The programme will incorporate leadership, business environment, global context, connectivity and entrepreneurship.
Its objective is to identify and nurture high quality, ambitious future leaders with personal, civic and professional commitment to the region who therefore stay in or return to the region to build their careers.
Professor Chris Husbands, Sheffield Hallam University Vice-Chancellor, said: “The University’s track record is strong in co-developing curricular through co-creation with employers ensuring programmes are specifically designed to meet their needs.
“The Sheffield City Region faces a significant challenge in retaining high calibre graduates, with evidence highlighting the need to provide opportunities to further develop their skills and progression.
“This distinctive programme aims to meet that need, supporting the business community within the region to identify these recent graduates and provide a programme for them to help realise their aspirations.
“The programme would ultimately lead to the retention of talent and contribute to regional higher level skills attainment, ambitions, economic performance and prosperity.”
The bid was supported by the four chambers of commerce across South Yorkshire as well as a number of businesses based in the region.
Petra Billing, Sheffield Office Managing Partner at DLA Piper, who supported Hallam’s bid, said: “Sheffield Hallam University has been proactive in engaging with the private sector to understand businesses’ concerns and aspirations.
“We believe they are well placed to develop the curriculum that is needed to attract and retain high quality talent with the skills required by Sheffield City Region employers.”
Across the country, this funding is supporting a range of projects in many different sectors which align with the Industrial Strategy’s ‘Grand Challenges’ – from advanced engineering to data analytics, and from artificial intelligence to bioscience.
