As we enter the festive season for 2019 and look towards 2020, we would like to thank all of our members, customers and contacts for their support this year, and take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

We look forward to working with you all in the New Year!

The Federation for Industry Sector Skills & Standards has appointed public affairs expert Matt Lambert as its new Chief Executive Officer with a brief to raise awareness of the Federation with Government, industry and the public and put the employer’s perspective on skills needs at the top of the political agenda. The Board of the Federation, which represent employers’ interests in skills in a wide range of industries, has asked Lambert to implement a major change in direction by ensuring that labour market intelligence and employers’ insights into skills needs is a key part of the Federation’s work from now on.

Lambert comes to the Federation with more than 30 years of experience in government relations, public affairs and corporate communications. Having worked at senior level in several major businesses, his experience includes seven years as Corporate Affairs Director at Microsoft UK heading up the skills team and creating skills and regeneration programmes to train hundreds of thousands of low skilled and unemployed people in basic IT skills.

The Chair of the Federation, Dame Julie Mellor said:

“I am absolutely delighted that Matt has agreed to join us as CEO to develop and lead the Federation to play a much bigger role in shaping the future of skills policy in the UK. Matt has a very strong track record in raising the profile of important business issues across a range of sectors, including skills.

Federation members represent over 118,000 employers covering diverse sectors such as science, social care, culture, construction, health and energy; and a skilled workforce is essential to every single one.”

Matt Lambert said:

“I am hugely looking forward to joining the Federation team and working with Dame Julie and the members, who represent employers across virtually every industry sector, to achieve real change in skills policy in the UK based on our unrivalled insight into the labour market.

“Skills policy across all industries and age groups is one of the most important issues of our day.  A national policy that is fit for purpose and ensures that we have enough trained workers to fill the growing skills gaps across many sectors and all the countries and regions in the UK is central to improving productivity and economic success.

“Whatever the result of the general election; I’m looking forward to working with the Federation team to make sure that skills issues and needs from the employer’s perspective are properly heard and understood at the highest levels in Government!