A new ‘Skills Taskforce for Global Britain’ with the aim of creating a post-pandemic plan to deploy world-class skills to attract inward investment, has been launched. It is at the epicentre of the Government’s commitment to use a skills-based economy to drive growth, productivity and ‘levelling up’ in ‘Global Britain’.

Commissioned by WorldSkills UK, chaired by John Cridland (former director general of the CBI) and with global consultant EY as a founding member, the taskforce will generate ‘a longer-term vision for productivity and prosperity from now until the end of the decade’.

WorldSkills UK CEO Neil Bentley-Gockmann (pictured above), who is and overseeing the taskforce, believes that the time is right 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.

“WorldSkills UK has undergone a period of radical change during the Covid-19 pandemic and now uses its unique insight into international skills benchmarking and best practice to transfer know-how in the development of world-class skills into colleges across the country.

“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. Failure to do so means we will not only fall behind our global competitors but also let down the next generation.

“The Skills 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 concluded: “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.”