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A people strategy that delivers commercial results

Considering the untapped potential of millions

Missing Millions

In our latest research report, Missing Millions, we shine a light on the worrying reality of the UK’s skills and productivity crisis.

We surveyed 5,000 working-age people to discover the unused skills of millions of people in the UK. The number of highly-skilled workers has steadily increased over recent years but we’re not always giving people the skills they need to do these jobs. To increase skills, we need to ensure more people have access to regular workplace training.

As productivity continues to decline, it has become clear that businesses and the government need to prepare to meet the demands of the future workplace. This will help to ensure that the UK has the skilled workforce it will need over the next decade. However, the research reveals that people across the nation are being denied access to training and opportunities to upskill that would enable them to be more productive.

Download the full report to learn more about:

  • the impact of the skills gap to socio-economic groups
  • how the government can create the skills that the local labour market needs
  • which UK regions are significantly disadvantaged in access to training
  • which demographics feel there’s less opportunity to progress in their job
  • the impact workplace training has on productivity and progression.

Download Sector Report


What do businesses have to say about reducing the impact of skills gaps?

Watch our short video to find out what businesses such as MBDA UK, Health Education England, NHS, and Heathrow are doing to reduce the impact of skills gaps and what they think could be done at a policy level to tackle this.

How we can help

Review your people strategy and learning programmes

Using our expertise in skills development, training and delivery we will work with your Human Resource, Talent Management, and Learning and Development teams to help develop or review your people plan and talent pipeline.

We always look to help stretch your strategic ambition and position your organisation as a leader in your field. This might entail supporting you to develop your own academies, design qualifications and business improvement programmes, as well as meeting your compliance obligations.

Drive staff retention through employee engagement

An effective retention programme isn't just about keeping employees in your organisation, it's about maintaining job performance and productivity. Training programmes help businesses build a more qualified and better-trained workforce with the right skills for the job. This, in turn, drives staff engagement and loyalty.

Our learning experts have decades of experience in training and have worked in, and consulted for, blue chip organisations such as Barclays, KPMG and Tesco.

Find out more about our apprenticeship offer or our Assured service.

Live the values of your corporate social responsibility (CSR)

Staff and customer engagement, brand reputation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are crucial to underpinning business success and growth.

Living the values of your CSR will depend on your people and their training, but through careful planning and expert advice we can help you build skills development to embed CSR and help enhance your reputation.

Understand the impact of education policy on your business

Our consultants can work with you and your senior leadership team to help you get to grips with policy and funding changes, understand their impact and develop a strategy to future proof your business.

We have extensive experience complying with and applying regulatory body requirements such as those by the ESFA, Ofsted, Institute for Apprenticeships, Ofqual and more.

You can be assured of an objective and holistic review giving you a complete and accurate picture of where your organisation performs against government regulations along with recommendations for improvement.

Attract and identify the right candidates and get them work ready

If you’re looking for talented people to become your apprentice, you could try our online solution to find the talent you need.

The City & Guilds TalentPortal is a simple, web-based system that lets you search for candidates based on the sector they want to work in, their location and experience. And because you can use TalentPortal to post vacancies too, you can reach out to candidates right from the start. It’s a credit-based system meaning you can easily manage your recruitment costs.

To find out more, including a short demo of how TalentPortal works, you can watch our webinar.