Bosses must develop UK workforce says skills envoy Sir Digby Jones

Skills Envoy Sir Digby Jones has called on Midlands employers to develop and unlock the skills potential of their workforces before time runs out.
 
In the first stop on his nationwide skills tour, the former Director-General of the CBI said: "I am here to challenge the region's employers to improve the skills of their workforces or face a serious threat to their competitiveness. "
 
Sir Digby met with former MG Rover employees at Hawford-based heating installation company, Midweb Heating, which currently employs over 80 former Longbridge workers. Nearly two years after MG Rover went into receivership, with the loss of 6,000 jobs, workers have retrained as gas engineers under a training programme set up by Energy & Utility Skills.
 
Last week Amicus reported that hundreds of former MG Rover employees are still unemployed or only earning the minimum wage.
 
Sir Digby, who was born and brought up close to Longbridge, said: "The closure of Rover was a brutal example of the challenge of globalisation resulting in large numbers of workers with skills for which there is no longer any demand. But it is also a success story and shows how the country can meet the challenge - 80 factory workers that acquired new skills and are now part of a thriving business.
 
"That's why I'm calling on every employer in the country to put skills development at all levels and ages at the top of their agenda. This story is a classic example of why lifelong learning is so vital. It doesn't just stop after school and college. And it shows what can be achieved when Government, employers and training providers join forces to meet employer demand with the right skills and investment."
 
Alan Mullins, a former manager at MG Rover's Longbridge plant, trained through the programme. He said: "I am married with three children and a mortgage so when MG Rover collapsed, it was frightening. Having retrained thanks to EU Skills' support, my self-esteem has risen and I am happy to be able to work in an industry I enjoy. We all felt we were on the scrapheap, but the training for this was very intense so my confidence is back."
 
Research shows that more than 30,000 businesses in the West Midlands have reported internal skills gaps - where workers are lacking the required skills - and an additional 5,000 firms cannot find the right talent to recruit.
 
Founder of Midweb Heating Clive Denham said: "We believe very strongly in the power of skills. It's what our business is built on. Without the initiative and opportunity to retrain this would not have been possible.
 
"We wanted to offer a training opportunity that would not only provide the former Rover workers with secure employment but also a prosperous future with pride and dignity."
 
Sir Digby also addressed an audience of employers at a reception "Delivering Skills for Prosperity" at the ICC in Birmingham. He was joined on the platform by Professor Mike Campbell, one of the main advisers to the recently-published Leitch Review of Skills commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
 
Professor Campbell, who is Director of Development at the Sector Skills Development Agency, said: "It is no coincidence that the best performing businesses are those with the most skilled and motivated people. Employers must invest for business development. The evidence is clear that the cost of investing in higher level skills is more than offset by business benefits to the bottom line and higher staff retention."
 
Sir Digby added: "The West Midlands is by no means alone in the difficulties it must overcome. The whole of the UK faces immense challenges from a modern global economy where low skilled jobs continue to be lost to the developing world. To fuel our economy we have to raise our game when it comes to upskilling both our existing workforce and young people as they progress through the education system and enter employment."