UK – 8th October, 2008 – Home improvement retailer B&Q has become the 100,000th company to sign up to Train to Gain, as the flagship service marks its second year of helping to boost the nation’s skills.

Employer representatives joined Ministers in calling on even more employers to take advantage of the training service, which helps firms get the best from their staff by identifying and helping meet skills needs. 78 per cent of employers say that they would recommend Train to Gain to other employers.

Since its launch in 2006, Train to Gain has helped over 570,000 employees in England get training, and over 291,000 learners have achieved a qualification. An evaluation published this year revealed that some 43 per cent of people who had completed their training reported having received a pay rise, and 30 per cent reported having had promotion. Funding for Train to Gain will increase from £520 million in 2007-08 to over £1 billion by 2010-11.

Lord Young, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills said:

“Successful employers see up-skilling the workforce as one of the most powerful things they can do to drive their businesses forward. Employers who have invested in the skills of their people in the past will be better placed to respond to the economic challenges, and they will also be better placed to take advantage of the opportunities in the next period of growth.

“B&Q has helped to mark a milestone for this service. Only two years in, a hundred thousand businesses have benefited from Train to Gain. Now more than ever, employers need to ensure they are getting the best from their staff by taking advantage of the range of training and funding opportunities available through Train to Gain.”

Martyn Philips, HR Director, B&Q said:

“Good skills at all levels are essential to our business if we are to continue to thrive in an exceptionally competitive market and we currently invest a lot of time and effort in ensuring our staff receive the training they need in order to be the best at their job. Train to Gain means we can now do this even better than before and helps us to really identify our employees’ individual needs. Over the next 12 months we anticipate around 35 per cent of our non-management population will be awarded the NVQ Retails Skills Level 2. In addition we will be launching an apprenticeship programme early next year.”

Miles Templeman, Director General, Institute of Directors (IoD) said:

“Skills and training have never been more important to UK businesses. In the ever-intensifying heat of global competition, skills are a critical factor in determining business success. IoD members are fully committed to this agenda – over 90 per cent provide training for their employees. Services like Train to Gain will help to maintain this encouraging trend. It has made a very positive start and there is clearly considerable potential to build on this foundation by continuing to raise its profile in the business community. It is there, after all, for employers to take advantage of.”

Richard Thorold, principal at Gateshead College, said:

“In the past two years since Train to Gain was introduced, as one of the North East’s leading training providers we have met with more than 116 employers. Train to Gain has turned out to be the success we hoped it would be and employers share our view; feedback from the businesses we’ve worked with has been very positive, with many of them reporting an increase in productivity, profits or efficiency as a result of our training.

“Train to Gain has enabled us to use our expert knowledge to develop bespoke training packages that identify skills gaps, build confidence, motivate teams and deliver immediate results.”

A spokesperson for the British Chamber of Commerce said:

“Businesses’ ability to grow and succeed is dependent on its staff. Professional development – both in terms of skills levels and management capabilities – is crucial, and business is committed to providing employees with the training they need. Train to Gain is a tangible embodiment of partnership between employers and the Government to training, and one which we hope to progress as Train to Gain evolves as a service to business.”

Frances O’Grady, TUC Deputy General Secretary said:

“Where employers and unions work together Train to Gain produces great results both for employers and workers. Union Learning Reps know that access to learning changes lives and are keen for their employers to sign up to Train to Gain”.

John Vigar, Continuous Improvement and Business Coordination Manager, Lotus Group, commented:

“It’s great to see what an improvement the LSC initiatives like Train to Gain has made to our business’ performance and to the staff themselves. We have been able to further improve our performance measures as well as provide worthy recognition of our employees’ efforts.”

Through Train to Gain, the London-based construction firm FM Conway Ltd has trained 250 of its employees in a range of qualifications including Operatives and Masons through to Plant Operators. One employee, Sharon Field, completed a range of training starting at A-level equivalent, progressing through to postgraduate degree equivalent in Management. This helped her earn a promotion to director level.

Sharon Field said: “Getting the training to improve my skills has renewed my self-confidence. I’m sure that it will strengthen my ability to support the company in its future growth. Training has also improved the performance and loyalty of my other colleagues – ultimately benefiting our company’s bottom-line.”

Employers wanting more information on Train to Gain can either call 0800 015 55 45 or visit traintogain.gov.uk.

It’s been a crazy few months between banks and stock markets and the big recession that is slowly gripping the world.  In an atmosphere like this it is up to everyone to improve their employability and career prospects by learning new skills and upskilling.  You don’t need to wait until your employer arranges this or even leave it so late that your social welfare officer arranges it.  Take the initiative and seek out the training that can make a difference for you.  If you want to keep up with the times, your old skills must be continually sharpened and new ones must be acquired.

Always keep in mind the following:

• There is no such thing as “Finished Learning.” One who stops learning, stops growing.  Work hard towards sharpening your Foundation and Transferable skills.  It pays to spend some time sharpening your axe before attempting to fell a tree.
• Keep an eye open for new skills and master them. At the same time, improve the ones you already have.
• Do some research to find out what skills are and will always be most valued in your industry.  Two sites that may help you here are ‘A Career Guide to Industries’ and ‘Tomorrow’s Jobs’.

Issues that people typically have include the following:

What can I do? – You can do whatever you want to. Right from cooking to eating, you will find information pertaining to any interest that you may have.

Where to look? – Keep your eyes and ears open. There’ll always be something happening in your locality to match your interest.

Universities/Colleges: – Usually, universities and colleges have clubs, societies and student groups which bring together students with similar interests. You can be sure to fit into at least one of them and learn from those who have more experience than you and build networks.

Leisure Centers & Gyms: – These are places where you will find people who like physical activity like hiking, swimming and traveling.

Evening Classes: – Collect details of all evening courses conducted in your area. Learn a language you don’t know, or get trained to do creative things like sewing or origami.

Volunteering: – Though not as glamorous as a lot of other things, the feel-good factor is immensely high! Giving something back to society is an amazing way to boost your morale. And of course, it looks impressive on your CV too and can be used to reinforce your skills and validate new ones.

Distance and Online Learning: – If you prefer to spend more time at home and if that’s the only hindrance you are facing to learning new skills, this is perfect for you. Learn Skills is one of the places where you can start hunting for relevant information about courses and as for online courses, it is the best place to start looking for what you want with a very comprehensive range of courses that cover both skills and compliance based training.  If you have any specific needs you can contact Learn Skills.

Source: CvTips.com article “Learn New Skills”.

UK – 7th October, 2008 -  A National Skills Academy for IT, announced today and due to open in 2009, will bring together an unprecedented, sector-wide collaboration of employers, educators and stakeholders to meet the skills needs of the IT workforce.

Information technology (IT) skills are critical to the growth of the UK economy. There are currently over a million IT professionals in the UK, with 141,000 new recruits needed every year. The IT industry is predicted to grow at five times the rate of the workforce as a whole and recent research suggests that optimising the ICT capabilities of the UK economy is worth as much as £35 billion a year.

Karen Price, Chief Executive of e-skills UK said: “e-skills UK is delighted to be working with employers across the sector to get the skills academy off the ground. It offers a unique opportunity for employers to take collective responsibility for the skills and accreditation of the IT workforce, with innovative development programmes and qualifications that are valued by the sector. I believe this will play a major role in helping the UK become a world leader in IT in the coming years.”

Peter Butler, Head of Learning for the BT Group, said: “BT’s engagement with the National Skills Academy is based on the premise that by collaborating with other employers we can take a significant step in ensuring that the sector develops the skills of its people in order to remain competitive in a global economy. We are delighted that the government has acknowledged the important role that the IT and Telecoms sector plays in the success of UK PLC and is supporting the further development of the National Skills Academy. We are looking forward to working with e-skills UK on this exciting agenda.”

Skills Secretary John Denham said: “Now, more than ever, we need to develop innovative training that inspires and empowers a new generation to realise their ambitions. A new National Skills Academy for IT will help build a world-beating workforce that will improve productivity and competitiveness – not just among new recruits but within the existing workforce.”

The National Skills Academy for IT will focus in particular on accelerating the productivity of new recruits into the workforce, addressing the training needs of the existing IT professional workforce, and enabling the workforce to achieve external recognition of skills.

Through the skills academy, employers will have access to high quality, cost-effective programmes, and be able to source training and internationally-relevant qualifications from trusted providers. Employers will be able to share proven training across the sector and have their own training accredited. Providers of education and training will find it easier to understand and respond to employer demand, and individuals will be able to achieve accreditation and more easily access valued training and qualifications.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is the professional body for those involved in the management and development of people.  The 2008 Learning and Development survey provides data on current and emerging trends and issues in learning and development. This year CIPD focused on some important issues facing the profession: employee skills; current and future learning and development practices; perceptions of e-learning; and the role of coaching. They also provide benchmark information on trends in workplace learning and training spend.

Below I will outline the summary of key findings.

Employee Skills

• Two in five (39%) respondents feel their learning and development activity has been influenced by the Leitch Review of Skills: Prosperity for all in the global economy: world class skills (2006). Around two in five have also considered or would consider implementing initiatives such as Train to Gain (44%) and signing the Employer Skills Pledge (47%).
• More organisations feel it is the Government’s responsibility (87%) to raise educational standards among young people before they enter the workforce rather than employers’ responsibility to raise literacy/numeracy standards within the workforce (57%). Sixty-two per cent feel the Government should prioritise funding on basic/lower-level skills.
• Compared with two years ago, organisations are now requiring a broader range of skills (61%) and a higher level of skills (40%). The key skills that employers class as very important include interpersonal (79%) and communication skills (68%). However, 66% of organisations feel that new employees currently lack both communication/ interpersonal skills and management/leadership skills. Yet, these are also the same skills that organisations feel will be required to meet business objectives in the future.
• One-third of employers have a graduate training scheme. The main areas included in these schemes include coaching and/or mentoring (85%) and project assignments (81%).

Learning and development – the future

• The majority of organisations have experienced change over the last few years in delivering learning and development, with the most significant change concerning management development in the form of new programmes to develop the role of line managers (72%).
• Indeed, the crucial role of line managers highlighted in previous surveys is reinforced this year, with the majority being involved in determining learning and development needs (86%) and half predicting line managers will have greater responsibility for learning and development over the next five years (49%).
• On the whole, learning and development managers have accurately forecast changes in learning and development practices; e-learning, coaching/ mentoring and in-house development programmes were all previously highlighted as growth areas. In-house development programmes (61%) and coaching by line managers (53%) are both now used more than previously.
• However, the expected use of e-learning has possibly been overanticipated, with less than half (47%) using more e-learning and a quarter (26%) saying they don’t use or no longer use e-learning. This is possibly because few feel it is the most effective learning and development practice (7%).

E-Learning

• Nonetheless, over half (57%) of organisations use e-learning, while nearly half tend to agree that e-learning is the most important development in training in the past few decades. The vast majority (82%) of public sector organisations use e-learning compared with just 42% of private sector companies.
• There is some indication that e-learning will be increasingly used as a training tool, with 29% saying that in the next three years between 25% and 50% of all training will be delivered via e-learning.
• More than three-quarters (79%) of respondents feel e-learning is not a substitute for classroom-based learning, while the vast majority (92%) feel that e-learning demands a new attitude to learning on the part of learners.
• Almost all (95%) feel that e-learning is more effective when combined with other forms of learning.

Coaching

• Seventy-one per cent of organisations undertake coaching activities, with a similar proportion (72%) finding coaching to be an effective tool.
• However, the purpose of coaching would appear to vary according to whom coaching is offered. Thus, within organisations that offer coaching to all of their employees, the purpose of this coaching is demonstrably used for general personal development (79%) and to remedy poor performance (74%), whereas within organisations that offer coaching only to managers, the emphasis for the purpose of coaching shifts towards its positioning as part of a wider management and leadership development programme.
• The bulk of the responsibility for delivering coaching lies with line managers coaching those who report to them (36%) and to HR and/or learning, training and development specialists (30%).
• The main methods used for evaluating the effectiveness of coaching include: through observation of changes (42%) and reviews of objectives conducted with line managers, coach and coachee (42%).

Economic influences on learning and development

• More organisations report facing similar (44%) economic circumstances in the past 12 months than those reporting either worse (33%) or better (22%) circumstances.
• However, the public sector continues to be gloomier than the private sector, with 53% reporting worse economic circumstances in the past 12 months, 45% reporting a cut in training funds and only 13% experiencing an increase in funding.
• Larger organisations – that is, those with more than 5,000 employees – also have a gloomy outlook, with 44% reporting worse conditions and 39% saying they have received a decrease in funding.
• Seventy-seven per cent of voluntary sector respondents report that funding for training has remained stable or increased, compared with 75% in the private sector and 54% in the public sector.

Training Spends & Budgets

• Seventy-seven per cent of organisations have a training budget.
• Voluntary sector organisations continue to spend more per employee per year on training, compared with the private sector and with the public sector.
• Those employing less than 250 continue to spend far more per head on training than those with more than 5,000 employees.

The full report is available here and give us all the motivation we need to ensure that Learn Skills addresses a key need in the UK economy through the provision of web-based skills and compliance training for the workforce.

UK – 5th October, 2008 – A National Skills Academy for IT, announced yesterday and due to open in 2009, will bring together an unprecedented, sector-wide collaboration of employers, educators and stakeholders to meet the skills needs of the IT workforce.

Information technology (IT) skills are critical to the growth of the UK economy. There are currently over a million IT professionals in the UK, with 141,000 new recruits needed every year. The IT industry is predicted to grow at five times the rate of the workforce as a whole and recent research suggests that optimising the ICT capabilities of the UK economy is worth as much as £35 billion a year.

Karen Price, Chief Executive of e-skills UK said: “e-skills UK is delighted to be working with employers across the sector to get the skills academy off the ground. It offers a unique opportunity for employers to take collective responsibility for the skills and accreditation of the IT workforce, with innovative development programmes and qualifications that are valued by the sector. I believe this will play a major role in helping the UK become a world leader in IT in the coming years.”

Peter Butler, Head of Learning for the BT Group, said: “BT’s engagement with the National Skills Academy is based on the premise that by collaborating with other employers we can take a significant step in ensuring that the sector develops the skills of its people in order to remain competitive in a global economy. We are delighted that the government has acknowledged the important role that the IT and Telecoms sector plays in the success of UK PLC and is supporting the further development of the National Skills Academy. We are looking forward to working with e-skills UK on this exciting agenda.”

Skills Secretary John Denham said: “Now, more than ever, we need to develop innovative training that inspires and empowers a new generation to realise their ambitions. A new National Skills Academy for IT will help build a world-beating workforce that will improve productivity and competitiveness – not just among new recruits but within the existing workforce.”

The National Skills Academy for IT will focus in particular on accelerating the productivity of new recruits into the workforce, addressing the training needs of the existing IT professional workforce, and enabling the workforce to achieve external recognition of skills.

Through the skills academy, employers will have access to high quality, cost-effective programmes, and be able to source training and internationally-relevant qualifications from trusted providers. Employers will be able to share proven training across the sector and have their own training accredited. Providers of education and training will find it easier to understand and respond to employer demand, and individuals will be able to achieve accreditation and more easily access valued training and qualifications.

Source: PublicTechnology.Net

South Africa- 4th June, 2008 – South Africa’s drop-out rate from tertiary institutions is alarmingly high, with almost 50% of all students entering the tertiary education system not completing their studies. This costs the country billions in cash.

One reason cited by an HSRC study is that students are not equipped with the correct study tools in order to cope with the academic work load in the first years of their degrees.  An online study skills programme, designed to meet the needs of South African students, is one way to equip students with the tools needed to cope with a demanding study regime.
Named Masifunde, after the isiXhosa phrase “let us learn”, the study skills programme is a response to the challenges that students face in South Africa, such as the lack of study know-how due to deficient preparation at high school level and high pressure to get a job whilst studying at the same time. In fact the HSRC Student Pathways Study, conducted from 2002-2004, found that “many of those who dropped out had worked to augment their meagre financial resources, no doubt adding to their stress levels”.
Using a study skills programme developed by the Oxford University Department for Continued Education as a base for the South African version, TSiBA and Oxford University worked together to form Masifunde.   Tristram Wyatt of Oxford University has been involved in the development process for the programme in South Africa. “The programme is locally adaptable, concentrating on not-for-profit organisations to use with their students,” he says.  “It’s aim is to arm students with coping tools like good study skills in order to alleviate some of the challenges they are faced with in the quest to qualify with a tertiary education.”
Oxford University and TSiBA Education, a non-profit, free-to-student university were a perfect match to launch this project.  “TSiBA’s strong ethos of helping others fitted well with our own intention of reaching out and helping students,” adds Wyatt.  Like any university, TSiBA struggles to retain students because of the socio-economic circumstances in the country and therefore understands the importance of developing a course that will help its students to cope with the workload.
“By offering this course free to other institutions to use with their students, TSiBA’s philosophy of, `pay it forward’ is mirrored well in this programme” says Leigh Meinert., MD of TSiBA.  “We have been brainstorming a suitable structure for the programme since last year to ensure that it is accessible. By bringing in our own students to tell us what it is they need to get out of the study skills programme, we have been able to set a realistic programme that answers the needs of the students,” says Meinert.

Source: IT-Online

UK – 14th January, 2008 – A free service to help start-ups and small businesses increase their productivity and competitiveness through technology is now available to companies based in Yorkshire & Humber, the South East and the South West regions of England.

The Business IT Guide was developed by e-skills UK in collaboration with market leaders such as Oracle, EDS, IBM, Accenture, Cisco, Microsoft, HP, Smart421 and BT, and has been tested extensively with small businesses.

The Guide is a user friendly online tool that helps businesses access a wide range of high quality, independent advice to help them fully exploit technology.  Advice includes:

• everything a new business needs to know – from complying with legislation to security;
• where to go for trusted information;
• how to properly introduce and manage technology;
• how to deal with the resource implications: cost, training, time; and
• how to plan for growth and changing needs.

There are five separate routes to advice and information via the Guide:

1. a self help tool – designed to help those unsure of their ICT needs;
2. facts – designed to encourage people to take action;
3. hot tips – designed to have an immediate impact;
4. The Guide library – with all 72 Business IT Guides listed; and
5. search facilities.

Keri-Ann Davies, Business Adviser for the Welsh Assembly Government, said:

“In the past I have made use of the Business Link website and found the best practice IT advice very useful.  The Business IT Guide seems to provide more advanced information than was previously available through Business Link, and also includes the built in search facilities and links.  I found it extremely informative.”

“e-Learning can also greatly enhance a small businesses acquisition of skills and delivery of training”, said Sean Griffin, Co-Founder of Learn Skills, the web-based skills and compliance training company, “and it is for that reason that we are developing training programs tailored to the needs of both SMEs and new start-ups.”

Source: e-skills Passport Winter newsletter

Becta, the education technology agency, is urging schools to improve the way they use technology to support learning, as evidence continues to build around the positive impact on GCSE results and grades.

Research reveals that schools that embrace technology see a significant improvement in GCSE results compared with those that do not. Key findings from six years of research by Becta include:

* school ‘e-maturity’ – where technology is integrated across the curriculum and wider school life – is statistically linked to lower absence rates and higher points and percentage A*-C grades at GCSE

* in GCSE science, the average gain from ICT use is 0.56 of a grade (in 2002, 52,484 pupils moved from grade D to C as a result of using technology in their learning)

* schools making good use of broadband and connectivity demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the percentage of pupils gaining 5+ A-Cs at GCSE in the year after broadband introduction

* a study of young people’s ICT use in the home showed a significant positive association between pupils’ home use of ICT for educational purposes and improved attainment in national tests for maths and English GCSE

* the introduction of interactive whiteboards results in pupils’ performance in national tests in English (particularly for low-achieving pupils and for writing), maths and science, improving more than that of pupils in schools without interactive whiteboards.

Stephen Crowne, Chief Executive of Becta said:
“The evidence is clear; when schools use technology effectively, it can have a direct impact on pupil attainment and results. As pupils across the country find out their GCSE results, schools need to think about whether grades could be improved even further by better use of technology. We know that currently only 20 per cent of schools are using technology effectively right across the curriculum, which means there is real potential out there to improve results and raise grades if schools take full advantage of the benefits technology can bring.

“Schools should make the most of the Internet, mobile phones, interactive whiteboards, school radio stations, blogs, podcasts and video conferencing, helping to create a stimulating and engaging environment for their students.”

It’s not just pupils that see the benefits of better use of technology. The majority of teachers feel that technology in the classroom has a positive impact on the engagement, motivation and achievement of their learners. Technology also has the potential to provide parents with more timely information about their children’s work and progress, for example via secure on-line access, so they can in turn support their children.

The research cited in this PublicTechnology.Net press release comes from the following evaluations and research studies on the impact of ICT use in schools:

* Butt, S and Cebulla, A (2006), E-maturity and school performance – A secondary analysis of COL evaluation data. London: National Centre for Social Research

* Harrison, C et al (2002), ImpaCT2: The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Pupils Learning and Attainment. ICT in Schools Research and Evaluation Series No.7

* Somekh, B et al (2007), Evaluation of the Primary Schools Whiteboard Expansion Project

* Underwood, J et al. (2005), The Impact of Broadband in Schools.

* Valentine, G, Marsh, J and Pattie, C (2005), Children and Young Peoples Home Use of ICT for Educational Purposes: The impact on attainment at key stages 1-4, DfES

“This research highlight the need to embrace technology in Education and also training to enhance performance and training outcomes”, said Sean Griffin, Co-Founder of Learn Skills, the web-based skills and compliance training company.

Galway, Ireland – 30th August, 2008 – Learn Skills, the web-based skills and compliance training company is delight to now partner with the English-based company ILX Group, a major player in the UK market with offices in the UK and USA. The ILX Group is an AIM-quoted company delivering multimedia and classroom courses in ITIL, PRINCE, MSP and APM areas.

In particular this partnership is focus on delivering to the Irish market the award winning multimedia training courses developed by ILX Group, with a particular focus on Business Basics for SME managers, which is aimed at improving managers financial awareness and understanding.

ILX Group Best Practice is an Accredited Training Organisation (ATO) and an Accredited Consulting Organisation (ACO) delivering accredited training and consultancy services in the following areas:

• Programme and Project Management (PRINCE2™, MSP™, APM, ISEB)
• IT Service Management (ITIL®)
• Risk Management (M_o_R)
• Business Finance (Finance for Non-Financial Managers)

ILX Group is the first company to present a worldwide multimedia course in ITIL version 3.0. The course can be delivered via CD-ROM, Network, Internet or Intranet, allowing the user flexibility to study at their own time and pace.  Using the interactive e-Learning method costs are significantly reduced and pass rates are increased compared to classroom training. “We’re really glad that ILX Group decided to collaborate with our company to deliver in Ireland their advanced training solutions; the quality of the ILX’s training courses is so high and extensive that the benefits of this courseware will soon be felt right across the Irish market amongst all levels of business leader”, said Sean Griffin, Co-Founder of Learn Skills.

These courses shall be available both on an individual basis or as part of a bundle purchase for large numbers of users and courses via the Learn Skills LMS.

In March 2007, the then Minister for Tourism, Shaun Woodward MP launched the National Skills Strategy (NSS) for the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector in England.

The strategy called ‘raising the bar’ set out a Ten Point Plan to raise the skill levels of the sector’s current and future workforce. As the title suggests it also alluded to the massive opportunity that hosting the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games presents for the sector.

Hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism is a large, exciting, diverse and dynamic sector. It has a global reputation for quality and innovation which are richly deserved. However, the sector could be achieving much more if employers were able to recruit the right people with the right skills and that they could hold on to a highly skilled workforce. This is what the strategy aims to achieve. There are no easy answers, but what the ten point plan presents is a clear strategy to tackle existing challenges and raise the skills and performance of the sector.

Hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism is a large and growing sector currently employing nearly 1.4m people in England. The sector is made up of 14 industries; these vary in size with the largest industry – restaurants employing over 430,000 people and the smallest – youth hostels just over 1,600. England accounts for 83% of all sector employment across the UK.

There are approximately 155,958 individual hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism establishments in England of which a third are pubs, bars and nightclubs and an additional third are restaurants. Small and micro businesses are predominant with 76% of establishments employing fewer than 10 people. However, in terms of the workforce the industry is highly polarised. For example, in hospitality 45% of employees work for 280 employers and another 45% are employed in small and micro businesses.

The sector is hugely important for the economy. In 2005, it accounted for 3.5% of the UK economy and was worth approximately £85bn. In 2005 the UK ranked fifth in the international tourism earnings league behind the USA, Spain, France and Italy.

Sector performance is being undermined by a poor skills record:

• 54% of managers do not possess the minimum level of qualification required for their position
• 63% of employers believe their staff’s customer service skills are not sufficient to meet their needs
• 40% of chefs do not possess a qualification at level 2, the minimum required to prepare and cook from scratch
• High labour turnover is resulting in a chronic recruitment crisis with 70 percent of recruitment being undertaken to replace existing staff
• Conservative estimates suggest that we are annually losing 590,640 people or 30% of the workforce
• This costs the sector £886m a year
• By 2012, the sector would have lost 4.1m people costing the sector £6.2bn.

Learn Skills has sellected the Hospitality Sector as one it will focus on to deliver quality web-based training in order to upskill and improve retention rates among staff.  As in Ireland, the Hospitality sector is essential to the success of the economy as a whole and web-based training can delivery increased value and consistency of delivery to both employees and management with the Hospitality sector.