The skills sector has a regular pipeline of policy announcements and skills initiatives which reflect how governments have battled to improve skills provision across the UK. The Skills for Jobs White Paper and the current Skills and Post-16 Education Act being the latest examples of that ambition.

But one issue is critical in all these initiatives: business must be central to directing skills provision to the heart of where it is needed – the employers and companies across the country – who know exactly the skills they need.