Skilled Labour Pool

To thrive, businesses need more than great premises and strong support, they need talent.  Rochdale offers a skilled, ready and abundant workforce.

With 1.6 million people within a 30-minute drive and 51% qualified to Level 3 or higher, Rochdale gives businesses access to a deep, skilled talent pool.

The skills business needs

Rochdale offers businesses a strong, reliable pipeline of talent. The RDA works closely with local education and training providers to ensure employers have the skills they need to grow and thrive.

Our Further Education colleges are consistently ranked among the best in the country, and dedicated providers like Rochdale Training help maintain a steady flow of skilled people to support the borough’s economic growth.

Rochdale is also a young and ambitious place. 33.2% of residents are under 24, higher than the England and Wales average, and the borough outperforms both Greater Manchester and the national average for new business start-ups, a sign of its strong entrepreneurial mindset.

Local Talent Pipeline

• Rochdale Sixth Form College (RSFC) teaches more than 800 students and is rated Outstanding by Ofsted across every category, including quality of education, leadership, and personal development.

• Hopwood Hall College & University Centre specialises in technical and vocational learning, with over 8,000 students. It ranks in the top 10% of FE colleges in England for Level 3 progress and achieved a 100% pass rate across 124 courses last year.

• Rochdale Training provides apprenticeships, traineeships, workplace learning and pre-employment programmes, working with more than 450 employers across Rochdale and Greater Manchester.

Rochdale is also connected to a major higher-education cluster. Twenty universities lie within an hour’s drive, with more than 400,000 students studying subjects such as advanced materials, engineering, business, and supply chain management. For employers, that means the next generation of technical and managerial talent is right on the doorstep.

Help to recruit

The RDA has strong, long-standing relationships with colleges and training providers across the region. We can support your recruitment needs, advise on apprenticeships, and help you choose the right training partners.

Our team can support any Rochdale business with small or large-scale recruitment needs, helping you match the right people from the region’s large and highly skilled labour pool, contact info@investinrochdale.co.uk to discuss your requirements.

Whether you’re relocating to Rochdale, starting a new business or expanding an existing one, we offer the same high level of tailored support.