We have people out there talking to you about your concerns, your issues, and your ideas. Together with our yearly research that looks at what’s missing in the world of skills, both today and tomorrow, you can be sure we understand your needs.

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Animal Care Needs

We understand what needs the animal care industry has because we listen to you.

 

Animal Welfare

The Animal Welfare Act has made massive changes to the industry, bringing laws on domestic and captive animals into the 21st Century.  It means everyone in animal care must continue to train in animal health and welfare. You will need to keep up-to-date with codes of practice, duty of care as well as potential areas of secondary legislation.

Customer care training

We often hear you like working with animals more than humans, but people are important to your business too. Whether you are a large charity seeking donors or a local dog groomer, good customer care is a must – it can make or break your business.

Management skills

Animal care businesses need to develop more management skills. This can be challenging for large organisations where staff work remotely or small sole traders who find it difficult to find the time away from their business. You also want to plan for the future and develop a pool of potential managers. 

Marketing and fundraising skills

In the current climate, people are especially careful how they spend their money, whether this is donating to charities, a family day out or choosing a boarding kennel. So you need the skills to be able raise your game, promote your business and raise the funds you need to survive.

Professional training delivery and assessment

You want to make sure all training is linked to national standards and are accredited appropriately. Clear guidance allows everyone to assess training and experience, whether they are a dog groomer or animal behaviourist.

Business Skills

Business is unpredictable. You need the business skills to forward plan for all eventualities such as:

• High fuel prices
• Increasing costs of licences 
• Another recession dip 
• Public sector cuts leading to continued high unemployment and reduced consumption 

Access to training

You told us you want more flexible ways to train your staff. With 86% of businesses having five staff or less, you find it difficult to spend large periods of time on training courses and pay the costs that go with it. You want more options, such as bite-sized, online and CD based training.

Clear guidance on sources and access to funding

As times are tough, staffing levels are being kept to a minimum and you have a lack of funds to train or employ staff. You need help.

But you said it was complicated and time-consuming to find funding and support for you and your business. We have created a special tool that does some of the hard work for you and points you in the right direction.

To find out more about Fund Finder and all the ways we can help you, click here.