1 Aug 2007

TISA’s Vine-Lott to be first chair of National Skills Academy for Financial Services

Tony Vine-Lott, Director-General of the Tax Incentivised Savings Association (TISA), has been appointed as the first chair of the National Skills Academy for Financial Services.

The National Skills Academy for Financial Services was launched by the then Economic Secretary Ed Balls and Skills Minister Phil Hope in May 2007. There are currently four operational centres in Tower Hamlets in London, Manchester, Leeds, and Norwich, working to meet training needs in the sector, from basic financial literacy to the development of work-based learning and executive-level skills. It is one of the first of a new network of skills academies, led and sponsored by employers, and designed to set new standards for excellence in training and skills education.

Tony Vine-Lott has been the Director General of TISA, formerly known as PIMA, for the past six years. TISA is a trade body representing most of the major banks, life offices, fund managers and stockbrokers in the UK.

“Tony has a great track record in working to demystify financial services and widening access to the industry,” said National Skills Academy for Financial Services Director Sylvia Perrins. “We are looking forward to working with him as the skills academy enters its first full year of operations.

“Skills champions are central to the competitiveness of this industry, and we need more of them,” Vine-Lott said on his appointment. “I will be working to encourage a wide range of financial services employers to get involved with the skills academy. This is a real opportunity to set the national agenda for training in our industry.”

Vine-Lott has spent much of the last twenty years in retail financial services, nine of which with Barclays PLC he set up Barclays Stockbrokers and was also Chairman of Barclays Trust Bank and Chairman of BISCO – the bank’s IFA and general insurance division. He has also been Chairman of London Stock Exchange, Scottish Regional Practitioners Group (1993-95) and a member of the Private Shareholder Committee of the London Stock Exchange, looking at the development of wider share ownership (1995-96). As Deputy Chairman of the London Stock Exchange, Scottish Regional Practitioners Group from 1991-93, Tony was responsible for skills development in the region and has a keen interest in skills development.

Tony Vine-Lott will take up his role, as interim chair for academic year 2007-08, in September 2007.

Press Contacts

Zoe Hussain: Marketing & PR Officer, FSSC
T – 0845 618 2375
Email: zoe.hussain@fssc.org.uk

Sue Martin: Head of PR, FSSC
T – 0845 618 2382
Email: sue.martin@fssc.org.uk

Notes to Editors

1. Employers wanting to find out more about how to get involved in the National Skills Academy for Financial Services should contact Sylvia Perrins, National Director on 084 5618 2353 or sylvia.perrins@nsafs.co.uk.

1. The Financial Services Skills Council is an independent, employer-led organisation, established in 2004 to provide strategic leadership for education, training and skills development for the financial services industry across the UK. It aims to improve productivity and business performance by ensuring that the industry is equipped with the range and level of skills that it needs. The financial services sector is central to the UK economy, generating over 5% of UK GDP and with a turnover of more than £46bn a year. It employs more than a million people in more than 35,000 companies, and affects every single person in the UK. The FSSC sets performance standards for the entire sector, including banking, building societies, insurance companies and brokers, independent financial advisers, investment administration and pensions.

1. The National Skills Academy network will be the new gold standard for industry training, aiming to improve productivity and tackle skills shortages across England. Each National Skills Academy put employers at the heart of skills training for their sector: they influence the curriculum to ensure it reflects employers’ needs; get involved in the Academy’s management; set standards and influence strategic direction. National Skills Academies aim to:

• deliver high quality training for a specific sector
• provide first-class teaching in a modern learning environment
• be centres of innovation and creativity in skills development for their sector
• be flexible, sustaining the closest possible relationships with employers of all sizes
• build specialist networks with a range of other learning providers, so that new thinking, new methods and higher standards are shared to the benefit of learners and employers

The National Skills Academy network was initiated by the Government to address the need for a world class workforce with better skills than ever before. It is managed by the Learning and Skills Council working in partnership with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Sector Skills Development Agency. For more information see: www.nationalskillsacademy.co.uk.