“The Industrial Strategy is a missed opportunity to correct one of the biggest drains on UK productivity – poor management and leadership skills. Buried in the white paper is the Bank of England’s damning assessment that management skills account for a quarter of the productivity gap between the UK and US.
"We welcome the strategy’s plan to champion apprenticeships, and in particular the announcement of new funding of £60m to support apprenticeship take up by young people and poorer families from disadvantaged areas. Yet, as a vital UK-wide vehicle for employer investment in skills, it is disappointing that apprenticeships are not explicitly recognised as a key route for driving up productivity. Already employers are seeing the value of the new degree-level management programmes to meet the critical gaps in management skills, and government could do far more to leverage this investment as part of its Industrial Strategy.
"The strategy recognises the role that the Productivity Leadership Group and its ‘Be the Business’ initiative can have in helping businesses to benchmark their productivity, and then access and share best management practices. We look forward to supporting this work to help the professional development of managers and leaders to gain the world-class skills we need to help us to become a global powerhouse.”