By Shahban Aziz, Managing Director, Textile Centre of Excellence
Last week, I was sitting with the Managing Director of a British manufacturing business with more than 150 years of history. It exports around the world, competes internationally and has survived wars, recessions and enormous changes in technology. Like many manufacturers, it knows its future depends on attracting, training and retaining the skilled people needed to replace an ageing workforce.
Within minutes we’d covered the Apprenticeship Levy, non-levy funding, Skills Bootcamps, A Levels, T Levels, V Levels, Local Skills Improvement Plans, the Adult Skills Fund and support through the combined authority. She eventually smiled, stopped me and said, “Shahban, I don’t care what it’s called. I just want to know how I recruit four good people.”
She wasn’t asking for another funding stream or another qualification. She was asking for a system that works. That simple comment says more about the state of our skills system than any policy paper ever could. If employers can’t recruit, the system isn’t working. It’s as simple as that.
I’ve spent the last 20 years working in skills and workforce development. I’ve held senior roles with two of the UK’s largest apprenticeship providers, served as a Senior Funding Manager in the Civil Service advising on apprenticeship policy and funding and now lead the Textile Centre of Excellence, a specialist manufacturing Group Training Association established by industry in 1976 which has taught more than 6,000 apprentices in specialist manufacturing roles.
I’ve worked under different governments, through countless reforms and alongside employers of every size. Whatever the politics, the ambition has always been the same: build a workforce with the skills the economy needs. Yet despite the best intentions, we’ve made the system increasingly difficult for the very people it is meant to help.
I welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement that pupils will be able to study subjects such as manufacturing from the age of 14. For too long, manufacturing has been overlooked in schools despite being one of Britain’s most innovative and productive sectors. Giving young people earlier exposure to modern manufacturing is a step in the right direction and sends an important signal that technical education should stand alongside academic education as an equally respected choice. The talent is there. The problem is that too many young people never see manufacturing as an option. Schools should present technical careers as ambitious, rewarding options rather than alternatives.
But we should also be honest. Another announcement on its own will not solve the problem.
Over the years we’ve introduced Apprenticeships, Foundation Apprenticeships, T Levels, V Levels, BTECs, HTQs, Skills Bootcamps, Local Skills Improvement Plans, Skills England, the Apprenticeship Levy, non-levy funding, the Adult Skills Fund, Sector-based Work Academy Programmes, Free Courses for Jobs, Institutes of Technology, Technical Excellence Colleges, the Youth Guarantee scheme, Skills Brokerage services and a growing number of regional programmes delivered through mayoral authorities.
Many of these initiatives have real merit, some of which have transformed lives and helped businesses grow. The problem isn’t that they exist, the problem is that they have accumulated into a system that employers increasingly struggle to navigate.
If you work in skills every day, the language becomes familiar. If you’re running a manufacturing business, it can feel like another world altogether.
Most employers aren’t asking which funding stream they qualify for or which qualification has replaced another. They’re trying to meet customer orders, invest in new equipment, win contracts and recruit people with the right skills. They don’t want to become experts in government policy just to take on an apprentice.
That is where I believe we’ve lost sight of what really matters. Employers should not have to become experts in government policy just to recruit an apprentice. The skills system should work around employers, not employers around the skills system.
Automation, robotics and AI are transforming manufacturing, alongside advances in digital engineering and smarter supply chains. Technology is advancing quickly, but competitive advantage still comes from people with the skills to harness it.
At the Textile Centre of Excellence, we see this every day. As a specialist manufacturing training provider, we work with employers who need machinists, maintenance engineers, production specialists, operations managers, quality professionals and laboratory technicians. These are skilled careers with excellent prospects, yet many employers still struggle to recruit because too few young people ever discover the opportunities available.
The biggest barrier isn’t always funding. It’s confidence. Employers need confidence that qualifications will endure and that funding rules won’t change so often they have to relearn the system every few years.
The Prime Minister’s announcement is a welcome start, but success won’t be measured by the number of new initiatives. It will be measured by whether employers find it easier to engage with the system and whether more young people move into skilled, rewarding careers.
After more than two decades working in skills, my message is a simple one: let’s stop adding complexity.
If we want a world-class skills system, we need more people designing it who have actually lived it. People who have wrestled with skills shortages, recruited apprentices, managed production and competed in real markets. Practical experience should sit alongside policy expertise – not be an afterthought.
If we build a skills system that employers can understand, trust and navigate, we won’t just strengthen manufacturing. We’ll strengthen Britain’s economy. And perhaps the next time a managing director asks how to recruit four good people, the answer won’t begin with another acronym.
