Tackling Swindon's skills shortage

The new Institute of Technology has seen Swindon's old North Star college tower get a £21m refit

Despite Swindon being one of the region's strongest local economies, people who live there could be missing out on the best jobs, a CEO has warned.

The body promoting regional economic growth said there was a local skills shortage built up over decades.

Historically young people seeking to attain higher skills have had to leave the area to acquire them, its CEO said.

A new Institute of Technology has said it aims to make Swindon a "hotbed of skills" again.

Institute boss Darran Marks said Swindon's young people would have the chance to learn specialist skills in science engineering and cyber on their doorstep

"The higher skilled jobs tend now to be picked up by people outside the area, and that's not great for our longer term future," Paddy Bradley, the chief executive of the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said.

His organisation is tasked with helping to coordinate economic growth across the county, between the public and private sector.

Mr Bradley said historically local young people had missed out because they were unable to access the higher level qualifications and skills in their own town.

"We've got about 30 percent of people across Swindon and Wiltshire with a degree or equivalent, that's below the national average and has been for quite a while," he said.

• Watch: Tackling Swindon's skills shortage on BBC Politics West

Swindon Institute offers high-end training in the rapidly growing sector of the design, structure and e-Sports industry

Swindon is one of the largest places in the country without its own university - but a new facility is now offering university-level training and qualifications in the local area.

The Swindon and Wiltshire Institute of Technology has been built inside one of the town's landmarks in what used to be the old college tower on the North Star campus, which has received a £21m government investment.

Its courses are designed with the region's employers in mind and promise cutting-edge kit in courses such as electronic engineering, science, cyber security, the burgeoning new industry of e-Sports, as well as film production.

"We're here to plug a gap, there's a skills gap, a higher-education access gap and we're trying to cover that" said the institute's Managing Director Darran Marks.

He said he wants young people who leave Swindon to feel proud, "flying a flag saying 'I come from a hotbed of skills'".

Meanwhile one of Swindon's major, longstanding employers - multinational insurance firm Zurich - is also trying to do more to help foster local talent.

Zurich is one of Swindon town centre's largest employers, and hopes its new headquarters and expanding apprenticeship programme bring in more local talent

It is expanding its apprenticeship programme and moving into new town centre headquarters, designed to enhance its appeal.

"It's really important that we keep our foundations here," Zurich's Head of People Iain Brumpton said.

But there is a real challenge in convincing parents that modern apprenticeships are an effective way into higher level careers.

"They are very different to what parents perceive them to be," he added.

Zurich degree apprentice Max King (L) said many of his friends felt there was a lack of local job opportunities in Swindon

One such apprentice, Max King, said he was one of the only people he knew from his cohort at school who had not left Swindon to go to university.

He said Zurich's new building showed that "if you bring money into the town centre, you'll bring more employers and more opportunities, like we have".

Another Zurich apprentice Danyaal Ahmad said he was astonished by the new building and thought it would attract more employers and in turn more highly skilled job-seekers.