Broker Case Study - C.A.N.
The Company
The business park on the edge of Lincoln is not exactly a hub for the creative industries - neighbours include a scaffolding firm and a manufacturer of welding equipment. But its distance from the close networks of the media industry may have contributed to IPTV company C.A.N.'s success as an employer in recruiting and developing staff from non-traditional backgrounds.
C.A.N. was formed in 2006, following the merger of XS Broadcasting and Sports TV. It specialises in Internet Protocol TV, the kind of looped programming that runs on screens in motorway service stations and similar locations. Hence the company's new name, which stands for Captive Audience Network - though also, according to Business Development Manager Sarah Anyan, for its "can do" attitude.
While the audio visual industries in the East Midlands tend to centre on Nottingham (and, to a lesser extent, Derby and Leicester), the success of C.A.N. and its predecessors has made Lincoln a focus for IPTV. This has benefitted from the presence of the University of Lincoln, with its satellite uplink facilities and a broadcast media graduate population.
More generally, the audio visual industries in this region are dominated by micro-businesses, with 91% having a workforce of fewer than five - and only four out of an estimated 2,900 companies having more than 100 employees. This makes C.A.N. a significant employer, with a twenty-strong sales force and an inhouse production team with ten full-timers and four part-time staff. The company tends not to use freelancers, but they do take students on placement from the university.
The Visit
C.A.N. was introduced to Skillset after it approached Business Link about training opportunities. Skillset's Regional Manager Amy Thomas suggested a joint visit with Train to Gain broker Toni O'Brien. On the day, they met with Sarah and Managing Director Alan Woodhead.
Amy was impressed by the company's attitude to staff development. "There was a real emphasis on bringing people on," she says. "A lot of their staff didn't have the usual background for people in this industry - there was a guy who had been a plasterer, I think, and they had just seen something they liked in him. That attitude was really noticeable."
During the visit, Alan was particularly interested in the specialist courses that Skillset could direct him towards. Sarah, who has come to the industry as an outsider, wanted to hear about more general training opportunities that could work for the company. She was already familiar with Investors in People and was keen to explore this on behalf of C.A.N.
The Outcomes
By the end of the visit, Toni had scheduled a further meeting with the company to pursue Investors in People. It was also established that a number of staff could benefit from the offer of Level 2 training through Train to Gain and she agreed to look for suitable courses for them.
Meanwhile, Alan was interested in arranging specialist courses in After FX and AVID for several members of staff. Following the meeting, Amy put him in contact with Skillset's Facilities Manager in London with a view to finding a trainer who could provide this for C.A.N.
On top of this, Sarah and Alan had already begun exploring the possibility of working more closely with the University of Lincoln and were due to meet with its representatives soon after the Train to Gain visit. Skillset was able to provide them with information about its Foundation Degree Frameworks, designed to help universities develop courses with involvement from an employer.
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