CBI helps launch London Workforce Development

CBI helps launch London Workforce Development

Skills in the City

The official launch was recently held of London Workforce Development – a new initiative which seeks to facilitate collaboration between employers, employees, and higher education providers in the capital, in order to attract and develop highly skilled talent.

Held in association with the CBI at Centrepoint, the breakfast launch event saw over 50 delegates from the business and higher education sectors come together to learn how London Workforce Development is helping to develop collaborative working.

Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the London Workforce Development initiative arose from a major employer engagement research project to understand the need and demand from employers for higher level skills in London, and the supply of higher level skills provision. The project outcomes recommended the establishment of a dedicated centralised resource to facilitate higher education-employer relationships – London Workforce Development.

Dr. Ralph Blunden, Head of London Workforce Development, commented, “Over the last 12 months, we have been listening to employers and higher education providers on where there is potential to build on existing capabilities of providers, matched to the underserved needs of employers. Our discussions with employers have provided confirmation that they collectively recognise the potential for higher education providers to contribute to higher level skills development. Similarly we know that they would value support from a centralised resource to aid them to navigate the HE sector. Therefore, our remit is to enable employers to navigate the higher education system, find solutions and work more closely together”.

As a division of London Higher, a membership organisation representing over 40 universities and colleges of higher education in London and the Greater South East Region, London Workforce Development has well established relationships with these providers, and is well placed to remove the complexity of navigating the higher education sector to identify the appropriate partners and expertise for an employer’s learning and development needs.

Sara Parker, the CBI’s London Regional Director added, “Business and education partnerships are a key area of focus for the CBI and we are pleased that London Workforce Development is providing value in addressing this issue”