A new skills taskforce has been launched today, charged with creating a post-pandemic plan to deploy world-class skills to attract inward investment.

The Skills Taskforce for Global Britain, commissioned by WorldSkills UK and chaired by a former director general of the CBI, John Cridland, will be at “the epicentre” of the government’s commitment to use a skills-based economy to drive growth, productivity and “levelling up” in Britain. 

Launched today at Dudley College of Technology as part of the International Skills Summit, the taskforce will generate a longer-term vision for productivity and prosperity from now until the end of the decade.

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Neil Bentley-Gockmann, chief executive WorldSkills UK, is overseeing the taskforce. He said it was time to put the development of world-class skills for key internationally traded sectors - such as advanced manufacturing, engineering, digital, creative and life sciences - at the centre of the drive to boost recovery and growth.

“For UK industry to attract the inward investment we need to grow, be internationally competitive and create high-quality jobs, we have to develop world-class skills,” he said. “Failure to do so means we will not only fall behind our global competitors, but also let down the next generation. The taskforce will put in place a roadmap to help ensure Global Britain prospers in the post-pandemic economic surge through to 2030 powered by growing world-class talent .”

Mr Cridland added: “With global competition for inward investment getting fiercer every year, the UK must be able to add world-class skills to its international calling card. We have much work to do.” 

A skills economy roadmap

The taskforce will be asked to comment on and steer analysis to test the hypothesis that the lack of a supply of high-quality skills is holding back key growth sectors of the economy, identify what steps should be taken to create a world-leading skills economy in the UK over the next 10 years, and champion the skills economy roadmap.

Key areas of analysis will include:

• How do our skills compare with those competitor countries?

• What are international investors looking for in terms of skills in the UK?

• What skills do UK chief executives need in order to attract investment?

• Are all parts of the UK able to attract inward investment? Is the skills pipeline holding any regions back?

• Can we quantify the skills gaps in the UK? What is the opportunity cost for UK plc?

The taskforce will build on the work of WorldSkills UK’s Centre of Excellence - partnered and funded by educational charity and awarding body NCFE - which is mainstreaming world-class skills as mastered by the best of the best from around the world by developing a cadre of world-class technical educators in colleges across the UK. The three year pilot project, which rolled out last year, will impact more than 120 educational institutions, 1,000 educators and 40,000 young people.

The Skills Taskforce for Global Britain: full list of members

• John Cridland CBE, chair
• Josie Cluer, partner, EY
• Baroness Ruby MacGregor-Smith CBE, president British Chambers of Commerce; non-executive board member, Department of Education
• Neil Rami, chief executive, West Midlands Growth Company 
• Chris Sutton, Welsh government’s ministerial advisory board for the economy; former chair of CBI Wales
• Linda Urquhart OBE, non-executive director, Coutts and Edinburgh Airport
• Stephen Burgin, board director, Offshore Wind Growth Partnership; chair of governors, South Staffordshire College; former vice-president of GE Power Europe; pro-chancellor Staffordshire University
• Andrew Hodgson OBE, former chair of North East Local Enterprise Partnership, Airbus and BAE Systems
• Dr Ann Limb CBE, independent business chair of the UK Innovation Corridor
• Marie-Therese McGivern, Strategic Investment Board, Northern Ireland; Skills Advisory Board Belfast Region City Deal; chair of Belfast Maritime Board
• Dr Adam Marshall, adviser, CMI and Flint Global; former director-general British Chambers of Commerce