Mind the gap! The critical role of continuing professional development

The UK “skills gap” has been estimated to cost UK business around £20 billion every year. Far from being confined to the IT industry, as press reports would have us believe, it crosses almost every industry and marketplace and affects all employees from apprentices and graduates to chairmen and chief executives. In addition, despite a range of published solutions from government bodies, workforce think‐tanks and skills development agencies, the skills gap will not simply disappear. The skills gap is an ongoing reality for UK companies and no amount of skilled asylum seekers or government investment in apprenticeship training will provide a quick fix.