A Centre of Excellence in Textiles will be established in Hawick High School, Scotland, in early 2019.
At the end of last year, the creation of the centre was announced by the Scottish Borders Council.
The Centre of Excellence in Textiles has been created to help address business critical skills issues in the textiles and knitwear sector.
“Creating the new centre in the town’s high school is an important step in making closer links between the education of the young people of Hawick and the surrounding area and a thriving business sector which is in need of skilled employees,” says councillor Mark Rowley, executive member for Business and Economic Development.
“The Centre of Excellence will provide industry skills of all levels, from hand-finishing to business and sales, and for a wide range of people, including school leavers, the long term unemployed and those who used to work in the industry.”
The project has been awarded £610,000 from the Scottish Government via the South of Scotland Economic Partnership last year.
The project partners include Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Development International, Department for Work and Pensions, and local textile and knitwear manufacturing businesses are also integral to the scheme.
As well as training a new workforce, the centre will also provide training to the town’s current textiles and knitwear workforce, with upskilling opportunities as well as advancing leadership and management skills.
The first intake of trainees is currently being sought through the following partners:
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
- Local Developing the Young Workforce group
- Hawick High School
- Local employers
“It is absolutely clear that the growth of the industry in the town, and potential inward investment, is reliant on skilled individuals being available,” adds Rowley. “The creation of the centre in the school is a unique opportunity and there are a number of future opportunities that can be exploited by establishing close links between the school and the Centre of Excellence. This is just the start of meeting a large and recognised need and could grow further.”
David Hamilton from Johnstons of Elgin explains that the future of the textiles and knitwear industry is inextricably linked with young people and locating the Centre of Excellence at Hawick High School makes perfect sense.
“While young people are a key element for the success of textiles, we must not forget future trainees and employees can be of any age and therefore applications will be welcome from all age groups,” he says.
“Johnstons of Elgin has already established very successful relationships with secondary schools in Moray and in Hawick. The Centre of Excellence is something that all Hawick-based businesses in the sector can be actively involved with, and make the most of, for the benefit of their own individual business.”
