BUSINESSiQ, Chamber, Esh to connect hundreds of pupils

Esh’s Building My Skills is an award-winning programme which first launched in 2009 to help students develop essential employability skills and make informed decisions about their future by bringing businesses into their classrooms to talk about the opportunities for them.

Esh’s Director of Corporate Affairs Darush Dodds said this year the new partnership would help the project push even further ahead to make connections with as many pupils as possible.

Darush Dodds of Esh Group (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

​“For 2026-27, we’re aiming to deliver the biggest programme yet, launching in October/November and targeting 100 schools and 20,000 students. That ambitious target will require around 100 businesses across a mix of sectors – but we know the region’s leaders will respond as enthusiastically as they always do.

“A lack of awareness of careers and sectors remains a key barrier to success. Young people can’t be what they can’t see so, working together Esh, BUSINESSiQ and the Chamber hope that careers sessions directly with pupils will mean employers can bring their sector to life with passion and heart, helping to inspire young people while building a stronger, more sustainable future workforce.

“Crucially, we will make sure the programme is accessible to all – SEND, ESOL, PRU – schools in most need of support.”

The search is now on for businesses who will give their time to helping give these young people their first view of the world of work.

A website is already waiting at www.eshgroup.co.uk/building-my-skills for companies to sign up and find out more about how the programme will operate.

BUSINESSiQ Editor Mike Hughes said he saw this as a chance to make a real difference in the region: “This is an opportunity we have been looking for for some time. As part of The Northern Echo, we don’t believe in just reporting what others are doing to build a bright future for the North East – we want to be a driver of that success as well.

“We have reported for many years on the passion Esh and the Chamber bring to their work – and the commitment to be changemakers in the many communities they work in. So we are very proud to be asked to join the Building My Skills team and will use all the resources we have to echo what is being done here and provide a platform for what we hope will be its biggest year so far.”

John McCabe, Chief Executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce, said Chamber members had a vital role to play in connecting the region’s future workforce with the businesses they might one day join, support or lead.

John McCabe Chief Executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce (Image: Stuart Boulton)

He said: “The North East has enormous potential, but we will only fulfil it if young people can see the opportunities available to them and understand the range of careers they can build here.

“That is why Building My Skills matters. By bringing employers directly into schools, the programme helps young people make the link between what they are learning now and the jobs, sectors and businesses shaping our region’s future.

“We will be speaking to Chamber members and the wider business community about how they can get involved, share their experience and help bring the idea of a career in the North East to life for thousands of school pupils.”

All participating schools will receive four workshops – each delivered by a different company – in an assembly format to a whole year group. Businesses choose the sessions they deliver, with workshops carefully planned by sector to ensure students get the maximum exposure to the wide range of possibilities that are local to them. Students will then complete a ‘checkpoint’ after each workshop and those who complete all checkpoints are invited to a regional interview day.

Mike Hughes added: “This is a big challenge, but we each bring something to this project that we are passionate about. We are all up for it and we know North East businesses will back it as well.”