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99. How Kada Shaped Rail Skills Strategy for Chesterfield Borough Council and Barrow Hill

The Challenge

The UK rail sector faces a growing skills crisis – an ageing workforce, rising retirement rates and critical shortages in engineering, signalling and technical roles. For Chesterfield, home to a significant cluster of rail firms, these pressures hit close to home. Learners needing specialist training were travelling outside the area, and local provision wasn’t keeping pace with a rapidly changing sector. The answer was DRIIVe – the Derbyshire Rail Industry Innovation Vehicle – a new facility at the iconic Barrow Hill Roundhouse. But first, the gaps needed to be understood.

Our Approach

Chesterfield Borough Council commissioned Kada to undertake a training needs and gap analysis for DRIIVe, focused on skills required to support a green and sustainable rail system. Kada used a mixed-methods approach: a thorough desk review of rail policy and provision, 30+ stakeholder consultations with employers, providers, authorities and sector bodies, and mapping of qualifications to identify critical gaps – particularly at Levels 4 and 5. The funding landscape, including implications of the Growth and Skills Levy, was also assessed to ensure recommendations were practical and deliverable.

What We Found

The research confirmed strong alignment between DRIIVe and both regional rail priorities and national growth sectors including advanced manufacturing and clean energy. It also exposed a fragmented national training landscape with limited progression routes beyond Level 3 – precisely the gap DRIIVe was designed to fill.

The Recommendations

Kada produced an evidence-based roadmap for DRIIVe to become a nationally recognised rail training centre, including:

  • Specialist short courses in technical and infrastructure skills
  • Leadership programmes to build long-term sector resilience
  • Future-focused training in green rail, decarbonisation and AI
  • Reskilling pathways for new entrants to the industry

“I really enjoyed this study, particularly engaging with leaders across the sector. Chesterfield is demonstrating a genuinely ambitious vision for its canal corridor and East Midlands Investment Zone sites, and this anchor asset at Barrow Hill is a central part of that story — one that will continue to unfold for many years. This study will result in training that helps change people’s lives and promote sustainable innovation across the supply chain.”

Karl Dalgleish, MD and study director, Kada

“Thank you for all of the work on the project. The report reads well, is comprehensive and clearly reflects a strong level of consultation. In a market that is hard to penetrate, the perseverance shown in engaging stakeholders should not be underestimated.”

Emily Williams, Skills Delivery Manager, Chesterfield Borough Council