Practical skills solution
With a significant demand in the UK employment landscape for higher technical skills, notable gaps have emerged in middle management, particularly in team leadership, strategic planning, and communication. Blackpool and Fylde College have made it their mission to address this with high-quality, career-focused education that supports upskilling to meet workforce priorities.
Grant Leitch, HE Curriculum Lead at Blackpool and Fylde College, highlights that CMI Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs) are integral for the College to work directly with employers at Level 5.
CMI HTQs represent a brilliant Government-backed opportunity for us to support employers and ensure learners are fully equipped to succeed in the workplace.
"Employers have endorsed this HTQ process, so we are confident that learners are gaining in-demand skills to fill critical management gaps."
“There is growing employer interest in the value of CMI’s HTQ offering,” echoes Vice Principal Peter Greenall. “Blackpool Transport and Blackpool Council were part of the deliberating party that validated our Level 5 Operational Management Diploma. This helped us to design and shape the curriculum, ensuring that it is highly relevant to regional employers’ needs.”
High-quality development
At the heart of HTQ training offered by the partnership with CMI is quality assurance. Students recognise that CMI technical qualifications enable them to quickly apply their learning, with robust courses that deliver real-world impact. They also benefit from CMI membership and exclusive Chartered Manager (CMgr) status to accelerate their career progression.
Rachel Dawe, a First Point of Contact Service Manager at n-compass, saw the CMI HTQ as a valuable means to address her own skills gaps with practical management training.
I wanted a hands-on approach to facilitate my career progression and I knew I’d get that from the CMI HTQ.
“I previously struggled with having difficult conversations and sharing ideas with my team. Since starting the CMI HTQ course, I can now share ideas more openly, taking them forward for organisational improvements. I approach difficult conversations with certainty about how they align to overall objectives. Everything feels more focused and I have much more confidence in what I’m doing.”
As an Engineering Manager in the NHS, Paul Teasey’s role requires cross-disciplinary communication across a complex organisation. “In my current role, I work with multiple stakeholders across departments and ensuring the right people are represented in meetings has been challenging.
“CMI has enabled me to understand my own management style through the learning resources available as part of the HTQ course. This has improved how I communicate with teams and colleagues, leading to improved productivity and collaboration.”
“It’s very important to me that I can see the impact of my learning daily,” notes Rachel.
With the CMI HTQ, we’re encouraged to apply what we learn directly to the workplace and use real examples. As a result, I can clearly see the benefit, both for me and the organisation, so it feels really worthwhile.
Rachel was promoted during the course and credits this to the CMI HTQ. “The skills I’m gaining are supporting my career development. Taking on a new job role and managing two teams instead of one, including team leaders, the Level 5 HTQ is helping me facilitate their development and my own. It’s giving me the confidence to take on bigger tasks and new responsibilities.”
Paul echoes the importance of the course for his development.
The CMI HTQ gives me opportunities to progress further within the industry. Completing the qualification and working towards Chartered Manager status demonstrates the personal development I’ve always aspired to. It reflects the skills I’ve gained and my commitment to high standards of management.
“What we’ve found is that the CMI support behind these programmes really drives learner interest,” explains Grant. “They see the HTQ as a highly recognised qualification with national coverage.”
Flexibility and growth
As Blackpool and Fylde College continue to deliver CMI HTQs, Grant shares that the College has ambitions to expand their existing offering.
“We’re genuinely excited about the future of HTQ delivery at the College in partnership with CMI. We see significant commercial potential locally, regionally and nationally. This allows us to compete in different markets. With the introduction of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, we’ll be able to offer every module in the HTQ individually or fully to suit the varying needs of learners and businesses seeking to upskill.”
Our vision is to diversify - offering shorter courses and self- paced formats. The flexibility of CMI HTQs and CMI’s position as a trusted partner in the market gives us a major incentive to continue expanding.
Overall, Blackpool and Fylde College recognise huge value in the CMI collaboration. “CMI is a hugely supportive partner to work with,” says Peter. “They provide the guidance and resources we need to develop our curriculum and engage with students and employers. Working with CMI, we can action our strategy to widen reach beyond local boundaries with blended teaching spaces. The extensive positive feedback so far from students and employers tells us that we’re going in the right direction.”
Watch the full video case study
Leaders and students at Blackpool and Fylde College discuss how CMI HTQs deliver in-demand management skills that fill workforce gaps, boost career progression and drive greater productivity.