Tribosonics gets ahead with Skills Bank support
Sheffield-based Tribosonics, an innovative technology business delivering smart sensor solutions to many different industries, is upskilling its team after successfully securing funding for Skills Bank training through the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub.
The company first became involved with the Growth Hub when it secured an Enhancement Project Specialist Grant in 2019. This was 50% match funded by the company towards a sales and marketing project which included developing a new marketing strategy, new visual identity and creating a new website.
After successfully securing Skills Bank funding, almost half of the Tribosonics team have benefitted from additional professional development, including Presentation Skills, Agile Project Management and Product Development training.
Dan Richardson, Projects and Operations Manager at Tribosonics, explains: “Skills Bank training has been hugely beneficial in helping our team to enhance their skills - often we are dealing with major international corporates and we need to pitch ourselves and the business to industry leaders effectively. Training and development of our staff is critical to maintain competitive advantage in these challenging times and Anne Wilson was supportive in our aims.”
Anne Wilson, Skills Advisor at Sheffield City Region Growth Hub, said: “Tribosonics are a very exciting business and it is great to hear that the funding they have secured for Skills Bank training has had a big impact. As a business they are really enhancing Sheffield’s reputation on a worldwide scale for innovation in manufacturing technologies and we look forward to seeing where this will take them.”
James Muir, Chair of Sheffield City Region LEP, said: “It is great to see ambitious and innovative companies like Tribosonics securing funding for skills to enable them to further accelerate their growth. Investing in skills is really a game changer and Tribosonics has recognised how it is the key to its future success.”
Tribosonics is also focused on recruiting and retaining apprentices and currently has six within its team, who are studying for qualifications through the University of Sheffield’s AMRC. Called the Future Leaders programme at Tribosonics it is trail blazing with, one apprentice, Will Morton, winning the prestigious accolade of Apprentice of the Year in 2019.
Dan Richardson adds: “We really do believe the key to growth is investing in our people and that includes recruiting and developing our own Future Leaders and focusing on skills training. We are looking to build long term partnerships with customers and that goes hand in hand with honing the skills of our team and bringing in Future Leaders and graduates and giving them the opportunity to shine. We find that Sheffield is a great place to be located as many of our staff come from the local area and have studied at one of the two Sheffield universities.”
Tribosonics provides technology solutions to complex manufacturing problems and is currently working on ground-breaking disruptive technologies in the polymer processing industries, in automotive and oil and gas sectors.
The company recently secured over £1m funding from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance to help them expand, further develop their technology, and create more highly skilled jobs in the Sheffield region.
Dan Richardson concludes: “We are excited about the recent funding we secured and what this will mean in terms of our developing game changing technology to bring to the market. We are looking to set up new international hubs in countries like France where we see major growth opportunities in the automotive and energy sectors. “
Any business that is looking for guidance in the areas of business scale-up support, innovation and trade, and access to finance, there are a myriad of schemes and programmes available through the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub.
In addition, for businesses that are looking to re-establish or recover after making significant losses due to the global pandemic or are facing challenges that put their long term future in question, contact the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub team about the Re-Start to Growth or Re-Start to Growth+ programmes.
Visit www.scrgrowthhub.co.uk.
