New Skills Consulting

A Tyneside company which is playing a key role in helping the north east emerge from the recession is celebrating five years of sustained growth this month (January).

Economic development consultancy, New Skills Consulting, has expanded significantly since its inception in 2005, when managing director Peter Graham saw an opportunity for a north east based consultancy that would impact on the development and regeneration of the region, while retaining the benefits here.

New Skills Consulting, which is located in Jesmond, now employs nine staff, all experienced economic development practitioners.  The company has secured a high-profile client base that includes local authorities, regional development agencies, training providers, enterprise and business support organisations and voluntary organisations from the north east and beyond.

Recent achievements for the business include securing a major contract with One North East to evaluate the 'Talent Challenge Programme', one of the region's key publicly funded services to help redundant workers during the recession.  The company has also helped the Tyne and Wear City Region Employment and Skills Partnership to secure £10m from the Future Jobs Fund to create jobs for young people affected by the recession.

Peter Graham commented: "In the five years since New Skills Consulting was established the company has come a long way, expanding the team, our client base and profits year on year through organic business growth.  To date, a significant amount of the economic development consultancy work being undertaken on behalf of north east organisations has been carried out by consultants outside of the region, however our team's combined expertise is going some way towards changing this.

"Through our passion for economic development and regeneration, we've made significant progress in our aim to make a real impact on the economic prosperity of the region, helping clients to deliver high profile services promoting innovation, higher level skills and boosting job creation which are particularly significant in these challenging economic times."

New Skills Consulting intends to consolidate its position in the north east and exploit further opportunities outside of the region by continuing to develop innovative new products and service ideas.

Coinciding with its five year anniversary, the company has launched a new-look website to help drive forward the business during the next phase of its development.

Peter continued: "In the next five years, our aim is to become recognised as one of the top consultancy firms in the north east and the UK by accelerating our investment in innovation and by continuing to recruit and retain the best people in the field.

"The new website will help us to market our services and specialisms more effectively within the region and beyond."