Education Reporter Rosemary Cook meets the new executive director of the North Yorkshire Business and Education Partnership to find out how he plans to use business expertise to create the workforce of the future...

AS A teacher's son, Paul Murphy says he always dreamed of a career in the classroom, but was persuaded out of it after graduating and instead took a business career path.

Now he has the best of both worlds, as the new executive director of the North Yorkshire Business and Education Partnership (NYBEP).

NYBEP, which covers York and North Yorkshire, was set up in 1992 to work with businesses and schools and colleges to prepare young people for work.

Paul believes this is vitally important.

"It is about a future workforce," said Paul, who has two daughters at the city's schools.

"It is part of making our children's learning relevant and giving the children a context in which to place their learning."

While most of Paul's colleagues are from the education sector, he made his mark generating more than 2,000 jobs in the city as chief executive of the Inward Investment Board.

When he reached the stage where he felt he could do no more, he looked around for a new challenge.

He said: "I could not believe there was a job that combined a logical progression and something that satisfied my deeply-held desire to move to the education world.

"I have a lot to learn about the current education agenda and I hope that I can pick it up and bring something else to it."

What he will bring to the role are his extensive links with business within York, which will help to nurture the workforce of the future.

"I want to bring some fresh thinking into the whole area, looking at it from business point of view," he said.

"Some of the companies I have brought into York have complained about a lack of skills and about a lack of work ethic.

"I think they should do something about that and get involved.

"I think most of them will rise to the challenge."

Paul said it was hard at such an early stage to pinpoint areas he was going to change, having only arrived at the job last month - though he did think short bouts of work experience may not be the future for school children.

He said: "People are questioning whether two weeks' work experience in Year 11 is the way forward and it links into the Government's desire to have vocational GSCEs which carry the same credibility as academic GSCEs."

For the present, Paul has to concentrate on trying to meet more than 60 secondary head teachers within his enormous catchment area.

Although the world of business has its own rewards, Paul believes there is more to be gained in his new role.

"You can get a lot of satisfaction achieving a plan, but that is nothing compared to the satisfaction that is making a difference to an individual's life."

Updated: 10:13 Wednesday, May 07, 2003