National skills academy for financial services supported by fsa, citigroup and hsbc

By Tom Derbyshire on February 21, 2008 10:26 AM |

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LINKS between the classroom and the boardroom are set to improve as a financial services school moves into new premises on the doorstep of Canary Wharf.

The National Skills Academy for Financial Services officially opens at its new facility in the George Green Building in East India Dock Road today (Thursday, February 21).

The Academy, supported by Canary Wharf firms including Citigroup and HSBC, provides training across a range of financial disciplines for budding Wharf workers from Tower Hamlets. It will be opened by Hector Sants, chief executive of the Financial Services Authority.

Courses have been run at Tower Hamlets College in Poplar for the last 18 months but with £1million
of investment from London Thames Gateway Development Corporation students now have a purpose-designed building in which to work.

Academy principal Therese Reinheimer-Jones said: “The students’ response to the building has been fantastic. It gives us a corporate-style environment and it has a totally different feeling to the main college.”

The academy offers courses from level two qualifications, equivalent to GCSE, to professional training, including financial advisor certificates. Canary Wharf companies have provided mentoring as well as motivational seminars.

“The support has been superb,” said Ms Reinheimer-Jones. “We want employers to be involved as the students respond very positively to the direct involvement of finance sector workers. Our courses are employer driven and we provide an important recruitment pool for them. It would be great if we could develop more partnerships with Canary Wharf companies.”

Around 600 students, chosen for their enthusiasm and aptitude for finance and investment rather than formal academic qualifications, will study at the academy, and there are plans for those numbers to increase as the courses on offer expand.

Salma Begum, 18, gained a Certificate in Financial Studies at the academy and is now studying accounts and business at Westminster University. She had an industry mentor from Citigroup supporting her during the course.

She said: “The combination of mentoring, the course and a work placement at the Financial Services Authority helped me learn what it is really like to work in finance.

“I knew I wanted to become an accountant and work in Canary Wharf but since completing the course I have even higher aspirations. I’d like to be a manager in these top firms. It’s opened my eyes to the opportunities available in the financial services industry.”

For more information log onto www.nationalskillsacademy.gov.uk.

Story written by Simon Hayes
simon.hayes@wharf.co.uk