Speeches
Launch event for the National Skills Academy for Financial Services in Leeds
Teresa Sayers
29 June 07
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[Introduced by Clive Leach.]
Launch of the Skills Academy in Yorkshire and the Humber
Thank you, Clive. I’m delighted to be here today with so many people who have helped to get the National Skills Academy for Financial Services, Yorkshire and Humber, off to a flying start.
The Skills Academy is a vital initiative that will offer a long-term solution to skills shortages and gaps, and help to keep your businesses competitive. We intend that it will rapidly become the leading body for skills education and training in this vital sector of the British economy. And it’s fitting that Leeds, as one of the UK’s major financial sectors, is the first regional hub to launch.
You’ll hear from many people about the what, where and how of the Skills Academy. I’d like to focus on the "why?"
As an independent, employer-led body, the Skills Council’s primary concern is to provide leadership in the development of education, training and skills for the financial services industry. In the development of the Skills Academy we have had considerable support from ministers from both Treasury and Education and Skills, and I particularly want to thank Ed Balls for being here during this historic and extremely busy week.
The UK’s financial services industry is a world leader. We all want to keep it that way. However, there’s a catch. We depend for our competitive advantage on a number of intangibles, and in particular on the skills of the people throughout our sector.
Skills will prove increasingly important for global competitiveness. What other options remain for long-term competitive advantage? And financial services employers know this, because they are already spending around £1.3 billion each year on education and training services. And that doesn’t even include spending on in-house training.
We’ve done a lot of research into skills needs in the past year – with employers, with the City of London and most recently on behalf of Treasury and I’ll mention some results specific to this region in a moment.
But our research all concludes that employers have painted a picture of an industry in which the supply of labour and skills cannot always keep up with rapid growth and increasing sophistication.
Currently, some 7 per cent of all financial services staff are not proficient at their roles according to their employers. Our research also shows a staggering 83 per cent of all employers feel the need to improve skills among their employees.
Our assessment of current skills needs revealed that financial services employers are, on the whole, drawing from a limited pool of talent which they are not always willing or able to replenish.
And meanwhile, of course, the sector is growing. Last year we commissioned research from Oxford Economic Forecasting, looking at UK financial services: five years forward.
Yorkshire and the Humber region, growing at 3.4 per cent a year, is likely to experience one of the highest five-year output growth rates in UK financial services. With average predicted gains of more than one thousand jobs a year, the region is also likely to experience the highest level of financial services employment growth in England (along with the North-west).
For example, overall, employment in banking and other types of lending expected to rise on average by just over 6,000 jobs a year, with Yorkshire and the Humber seeing the largest regional percentage increase in England (1.6 per cent a year)
Across the whole financial services sector, our current research, including work we’ve recently concluded for the Treasury, forecasts an increasing need for higher level qualifications to meet the changing structure of the industry. The demand will come from managerial, professional and technical roles as well as the need for a massive upskilling of the industry’s administrative and customer service workforce, which must become more skilled as these activities become cheaper and more efficient.
And into this gap steps the National Skills Academy for Financial Services, led by employers to increase the talent pool.
Two of the themes identified as areas needing consideration in our research for Treasury are relevant here.
There is every indication that there is a widening gap in numeracy and quantitative skills between UK students and their overseas counterparts. This is evidenced by the increasing number of overseas candidates being recruited into the sector on an annual basis. The wider student and UK population, regardless of their specific career aspirations, needs to be convinced of the value of solid mathematical skills. And this needs to happen at a pretty early stage. And here I think the Skills Academy has a real contribution to make.
The other area I would like to raise is the rise in the significance of middle and back office operations. These areas are becoming ever more sophisticated and the resulting demand for higher level skills has resulted in a number of significant skills lags. But the industry needs to communicate that to potential employees. The prestige and professionalism of these areas needs to be addressed to ensure the attraction of high calibre staff and development of the necessary high level skills. The impact of off-shoring and globalisation on the development of career paths also needs to be considered.
We bid for a National Skills Academy for Financial Services with the firm belief that it could make a difference to our industry, whether that difference was reflected in the potential choices for school leavers, in the profitability of your business or in the competitive position of UK plc.
We are thrilled that it has been supported by so many leading industry employers keen to be a part of the Skills Academy and all that it stands for.
We want employers to get involved in the Skills Academy. As always, there’s no such thing as a free drink. But why would you need inducements to support something so valuable to your business?
I would like to conclude by thanking those who helped get the National Skills Academy for Financial Services, Yorkshire and Humber, off the ground.
- Tony Longworth, Principal & Chief Executive Park Lane College Leeds
- Clive Leach, Shadow REB Chair
- John Ansbro, Leeds Financial Services Initiative
- Yorkshire Forward
And many, many thanks of course to our first confirmed regional sponsors. Congratulations on your vision and enthusiasm:
- Cattles - Sean Mahon
- yfm group - Clive Leach
- engage Mutual Assurance - Andrew Haigh
- Norwich Union - Richard Box
Thank you.
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