Oatridge College offers Support to West of Scotland Businesses

One of Scotland’s leading vocational colleges for the “landbased” industries is widening its horizons in a search for small and medium-sized companies which could benefit during the current economic downturn, from tapping into its unique expertise and support.

Since taking up his post last year, Russell Parker, the knowledge transfer and business development executive at Oatridge College in West Lothian, has been kept busy with projects in the Lothians and Falkirk areas, but now he is set to target the West of Scotland. “As a college we have a national remit, so I am interested in talking to businesses anywhere in Scotland, but we have to start the expansion of our services somewhere”, he says.

Oatridge has already provided for the training needs of more than 100 companies in the West, but this new campaign will go much further. Russell says: “This is not just about training, although that may be a part of it. What we have to offer is the expertise of the College which will allow us to assist in an advisory role. We will speak to them about their requirements and how we can work with them and then try to identify the funding that would enable us to do that. We are currently trying to open up new funding streams.”

Russell believes that potential partner businesses will most likely to involved in golf or greenkeeping, horticulture or the equine industry. “Oatridge has specialist skills which are simply not available at other colleges and we don’t want geography to be a barrier to sharing them,” he says, adding: “Times are tough for a lot of businesses, so we believe the time is right to get out there and offer our knowledge and skills where they can make a real difference.”

“Oatridge College has a huge amount of experience in advising and working with businesses, as well as expertise in a wide range of industry sectors including agriculture, landbased engineering and farriery, horticulture, landscaping and sports turf management, environmental and countryside management, animal care and equestrianism. Our staff works closely with the industry and sector bodies we serve and as a result are right up to date with developments and best practice, which is why we are confident that if a business needs help, we can provide it,” he says.

 Visit www.oatridge.ac.uk for more information on Oatridge College.

More Information?

If you require more information on any of our services please do not hesitate to Contact Us.

Landscape House, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. CV8 2LG

© The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI)