Daniel Chamier is angry. And what infuriates the chief executive of Carlisle-based luxury brand Chapman Bags is what he sees as a failure of the education system.

“Children are not being prepared at school for the world of work,” he says. “And the further education and apprentice systems are not doing their jobs.

“In our industry there is a chronic shortage of skilled machinists – we have to send our apprentices to France to learn leatherworking skills – yet colleges are churning out thousands of kids with fashion and media studies degrees who end up working in shops because there are no jobs for them to go to.”

It’s a familiar refrain among bosses in the so-called “skilled” trades – leatherworkers, brickies, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers.

In a world in which many young people aspire to be bloggers and reality TV stars, where is the next generation of skilled apprentices to be found?

But is it the employers themselves who need to take positive action, rather than heaping the blame on schools and colleges? Should they be actively working with the educators in order to ensure they get the right people? Do they need to take a long hard look at themselves?

That’s the view of Claire Dunn and Kevin Foley. Chairwoman and man of the Cumbrian branches of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) respectively. They have joined forces to address what they see as a potential employment challenge facing the county.

Ironically, at the root of the problem is the investment of billions of pounds into the Britain’s Energy Coast, which will create thousands of new jobs in the nuclear and technology industries in Cumbria over the next decade – with plans for a new atomic power plant near Sellafield.

“These multi-billion pound investments in the energy and manufacturing sectors will have a knock-on effect in other sectors within Cumbria,” says Claire.

“But these opportunities bring challenges of their own, specifically in skills and education, and employers will need to overcome these in the decade ahead if they are to make the most of these once-in-a-generation investments.”

The CIPD, which represents 570 human resources professionals in Cumbria, is urging bosses to take charge of their own destiny by developing a workforce plan, working hard to retain existing talent in their business, recruiting creatively and developing close ties with local schools and colleges.

In October, together with the CMI, they hosted a Developing Future Cumbria conference to raise awareness of the problem with business leaders.

There are plans for a similar event in Penrith, focussing on best practice for workforce planning.

But it won’t be easy, says Kevin, whose organisation is the leading professional body for managers and leaders.

“When it comes to recruiting and retaining talent Cumbria is fighting against the tide and demographics,” he says. “We have a net growth in second home owners and over-65s, and the workforce pool is getting smaller.

“There is also a cultural issue. It sometimes seems that for many young people the ambition is limited rather than get a job.

“That said, employers can’t afford to bury their heads in the sand. They have to ask themselves how they make their industry attractive to potential employees.”

Nowhere have alarm bells been ringing louder about the so-called skills shortage timebomb than on the Energy Coast itself.

Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has already come up with a plan designed to address the perfect storm of an ageing workforce and the “brain drain” of young talent away from the county.

Meanwhile, global consultants AECOM have been tasked with drawing up an infrastructure for the LEP to support economic, employment and housing growth.

What concerns the CIPD and the CMI is that businesses who could benefit hugely, if indirectly, from the nuclear and technology investment, do not seem to appreciate the imminent nature of threat.

“Businesses must take action now to mitigate against the genuine risk of not having a skilled workforce in the future,” says Claire. “Otherwise it will be too late.”

A huge focus on apprenticeships across Cumbria in recent years has been seen by many as a huge step forward in plugging the gaps. There has been closer working between schools, colleges and businesses.

Carlisle MP John Stevenson is again hosting a Skills Fair at the city’s Sands Centre – this year taking place on January 28 – as part of efforts to ensure the area’s needs match the training requirements and to help people take a first critical step on their career ladders.

It showcases the employment, training and personal development opportunities on offer locally in a range of different workplaces and environments.

It is supported by a string of major employers, including Story Group, Thomas Graham, Sellafield, Cumberland Building Society, the Skills Funding Agency and Carlisle City Council.

Some businesses are, however, feeling the pinch. And for some, like Daniel Chamier, it is hard for not to feel frustrated.

When Janet Hartley, a director at hospitality industry supplier Out Of Eden, recently attempted to fill five vacancies at the firm’s Kirkby Stephen plant, she was dismayed to receive just seven tentative inquiries following and advertisement.

“Five were for two temp jobs on the soap production line, of which one applicant was absolutely hopeless,” she says. “And two were fairly half-hearted applications for the post of HR co-ordinator – and
we ended up promoting from within.

“There was absolutely no interest for the other jobs, which were to be part of a small team of pickers and packers.”

While Janet would be the first to admit that manning a production line is hardly glamorous work, she points out that the pay on offer was well above the minimum living wage.

For Janet, though, the problem of staff shortages runs far deeper than just the contents of a wage packet.

“It’s a societal problem,” she says. “Fifteen years ago I advertised for one vacancy and received over 30 job applications.

“Yet in recent years a couple of young people we’ve employed have turned up not ready to work. Their attitude was all wrong – it was as if they thought we were doing them a favour by giving them a job.

“And it annoys me because I am passionate about Cumbria. If we don’t fight to have a viable workforce, our economy is going to dribble away into the sand.”

On top of the energy coast work, a massive house-building boom is on the cards for much of north and west Cumbria in the next decade, with a need for hundreds of new homes every year in Carlisle alone.

There is also much anticipation about what an enterprise zone at Kingmoor Park, Carlisle – which supporters say has the potential to create up to 2,500 jobs – will mean in terms of new developments and what new skills are needed for the firms that may set up there as a result of the incentives on offer to be based there.