30LSC
adv
er
tisemen
tf
ea
tur
e
Pledge
is
start
point
for
skills
inv
estment
Employers
are
increasingly
conscious
that
the
skills
of
their
employees
are
the
life
blood
of
their
busines
s.
Fail
to
refresh
and
review
that
core
bank
of
expert
ise
and
vital
systems
soon
run
more
slowly;
the
connections
between
direction,
performance
and
output
become
looser
.
Crucially
,r
ivals
become
stronger
and
gain
ac
ompetitive
edge.
But
despite
ag
rowing
awareness
that
nothing
short
of
as
kills
revolution
will
do,
many
employers
have
not
yet
shown
ac
om-
mitment
to
the
cause.
Nationally
,o
ne
third
of
employers
do
not
train
their
staf
f.
Eight
million
employees
go
without
training
every
year
.D
espite
im-
provements
in
recent
years,
UK
productivity
lags
behind
that
of
key
competitors
8212o
ut-
put
per
hour
worked
is
20
per
cent
higher
in
France,
13
per
cent
higher
in
Germany
and
18
per
cent
higher
in
the
USA.
Here
in
the
We
st
Midla
nds,
we
have
unique
chall
enges
and
opport
uniti
es.
As
the
heavy
indust
ries
which
have
repre-
sented
the
backbo
ne
of
our
econom
yf
or
generations
have
declined,
al
egacy
of
low
skills
has
remained.
Meanwhile,
we
have
seen
opportunities
grow
in
service
and
profess
ional
sectors,
where
employers
need
higher
level
skills.
Much
work
is
under
way
to
create
joined-
up
approaches
to
giving
the
right
people
the
right
skills
to
take
full
advantage
of
new
economic
opportunities
.T
hat
means
careful
co-ordination
between
agencies
to
help
those
people
who
face
barriers
to
skills
and
em-
ployment.
And
it
means
broadening
the
recruitment
base
so
that
employers
can
tap
into
seams
of
talent
and
skill
equally
in
all
geographical
and
demographic
sections
of
our
region.
Whatever
the
size
of
the
business
you
work
in,
from
multinati
onal
plc
to
the
small-
est
start-up,
there
has
never
beenm
ore
help
available
to
train
your
employees.A
nd
here8217
s
the
good
news
8211i
th
as
never
been
easier
to
access.
By
making
the
Learning
and
Skills
Coun-
cil
Skills
Pledge,
you
will
be
of
fering
ap
ub-
lic
commitme
nt
to
partners,
customers
and
employees
that
skills
development
will
be
at
the
heart
of
your
business
plan
and
you
will
be
accessing
aw
ealth
of
expertiset
hrough
the
national
Tr
ain
to
Gain
skills
service.
Ca
ll
the
We
st
Mi
dlands
sk
ills
hotline
on
08000
754557
or
visit
tr
ain
to
gain.
go
v.
uk
to
64257nd
out
ho
wy
ou
ca
no
64256e
r
yo
ur
business
as
ki
lls
injec
tion
Ca
se
study
:J
KA
dv
er
tising
,P
ershor
e
Road
,S
elly
Pa
rk
The
UK8217
sl
eading
advertisin
ga
gency
specialising
in
Asian
pr
oducts
and
markets
is
among
the
500-plus
We
st
Midla
nds
compani
es
to
demonstra
te
their
commit
ment
to
skills
devel
opment
by
signing
the
national
Skills
Pledg
e.
JK
Adverti
sing,
of
Selly
Park,
Birmi
ngham,
began
life
nearl
y4
0y
ears
ago
when
br
others
Ash
and
Millan
Joshi,
together
with
sister
Kailash
as
main
pr
esenter
,l
aunched
Britain8217
sfi
rst
specialist
television
pr
ogramme
for
Hindi
speakers
,
br
oadcast
fr
om
the
former
BBC
centr
ea
tP
ebble
Mill.
The
success
of
that
ventur
el
ed
to
similar
specialist
br
oadcast
ing
ventur
es
in
commer
cial
radio
station
st
hr
oughout
the
country
,i
ncluding
BRMB,
Beacon
Radio,
Radio
Luxembour
ga
nd
LBC
in
London
and
the
company
steadil
y
diversi
fied
into
the
commer
cial
sector
as
a
special
ist
adverti
sing
agency
.
To
day
,w
ith
at
urnover
of
1631
mill
ion
and
ac
lient
list
of
about
75
compan
ies
8212r
anging
fr
om
local
re
staurants
to
inter
national
airl
ines
8212t
he
firm
has
at
rack
re
cord
of
investmen
ti
nn
ew
skills
and
technolog
y.
Managing
dir
ector
Millan
Joshi
says
the
client-focu
sed
re
putation
of
the
firm8217
si
n-house
team
of
five
has
seen
them
play
an
importa
nt
ro
le
in
establis
hing
nation
al
and
global
brand
sl
ike
East
End
Foods,
Imperial
Snack
s,
Birmingh
am
Intern
ational
Airport,
Saud
iA
rabian
Airlines
and
Air
India.
Not
only
that,
their
skills
in
tailoring
messages
for
Asian
audiences
have
secur
ed
contracts
for
high-p
ro
file
public
informa
tion
campaig
ns
on
behalf
of
We
st
Midla
nds
Poli
ce
and
the
NHS
and
pr
omotio
nal
activ
itie
sf
or
ar
aft
of
Bollywood
stars.
8220W
ew
er
ep
ioneers
at
the
beginn
ing
and
we
have
continu
ed
that
attitud
eo
fi
nnovation
and
cr
eativi
ty
to
the
pr
esent
day
,8221
says
the
54-year
-old.
8220The
media
industry
is
so
fast
moving
that
you
must
always
be
re
ady
and
able
to
change
with
the
times.
Otherwise,
if
you
stand
still,
your
competitors
will
race
ahead
of
you.
8220So,
we
have
always
tried
to
re
main
at
the
cutting
edge
technically
,w
hich
means
the
people
who
work
for
us
need
their
skills
to
be
up-to-the-
minute
as
well.
8220I
re
ally
think
the
Skills
Pledge
is
ag
ood
idea
as
it
is
ap
ublic
commit
ment
to
the
ethos
we
have
always
held.
It
sets
as
tandard
for
skills
and
training
to
which
both
our
customers
and
our
employees
can
hold
us.8221
Wh
at
is
the
Skills
Pledge?
Th
eS
ki
lls
Pl
edge
is
av
olun
tar
y,
public
co
mmitmen
tb
y
the
leadership
of
ac
ompan
yo
ro
rg
anisa
tion
to
suppor
t
all
its
emplo
ye
es
to
dev
elop
their
basic
sk
ills
,i
ncluding
lit
er
ac
ya
nd
numer
ac
y,
and
wo
rk
t
ow
ar
ds
re
lev
an
t,
va
luable
qualifica
tions
to
at
leastl
ev
el
tw
o(
equiv
alen
tt
o
fiv
eg
ood
GCSEs).
Th
ep
ur
pose
is
to
ensur
et
ha
ta
ll
staff
ar
es
ki
lled
,c
ompet
en
ta
nd
able
to
make
af
ull
co
nt
ri
bution
to
the
suc
ce
ss
of
thec
ompan
y/
or
ganisa
tion.
Th
ep
ledge
can
be
gi
ve
nb
yt
he
chief
ex
ecutiv
e,
chief
oper
at
ing
offic
er
,o
wner
-manager
or
other
boar
d
member
,o
nb
ehalf
of
the
or
ganisa
tion.
It
is
ac
or
por
at
e
co
mmitmen
tc
ov
er
ing
the
whole
co
m
pan
y/or
ganisa
tion.
Fo
rt
hose
emplo
ye
es
who
do
not
alr
eady
ha
ve
af
ull
lev
el
tw
oq
ualifica
tion,
the
Go
ve
rn
men
tw
ill
pr
ov
ide
funding
to
help
them
gain
basic
lit
er
ac
ya
nd
numer
ac
y
sk
ills
as
we
ll
as
their
first
full
lev
el
tw
oq
ualifica
tion.
Th
eS
ki
lls
Pl
edge
is
open
to
all
emplo
ye
rs
of
all
siz
es
in
the
pr
iv
at
e,
public
and
vo
lun
tar
y
sec
to
rs
.
Buil
ding
societ
y
bosse
sc
ommit
to
skill
s
inv
estmen
t
Representatives
of
major
building
societies
in
the
We
st
Midla
nds
made
aj
oint
declarati
on
of
their
commitme
nt
to
staf
fd
evelopment
when
they
came
together
to
sign
theS
kills
Pledge.
We
st
Bromwic
hB
uilding
Society
chief
executive
Stephen
Karle,
who
is
also
the
first
chair
of
both
the
BlackC
ountry
Employment
and
Skills
Board
and
Regional
Skills
Academy
for
Financial
Services,
said:
8220Having
high-quality
staf
f,
who
are
skilled,
qualified
and
motivated,
is
the
key
to
business
success.Being
able
to
compete
successfully
as
ab
usiness
means
valuing
your
staf
fs
ot
hat
they
have
opportunities
to
achieve
their
own
career
aspirations.
It
also
means
investing
substantially
in
their
training
and
development
so
that
they
can
gain
the
skills
and
qualifications
to
benefit
the
business
in
terms
of
improved
performance.8221
Left
to
right:
David
Lownds,
head
of
business
support
at
Hanley
Economic
Building
Society
,W
est
Bromwich
Building
Society
chief
executive
Stephen
Karle
and
Geof
fC
aves,
chief
executive
of
Dudley
Building
Society
,s
ign
the
Skills
Pledge
watched
by
LSC
deputy
regional
director
Julie
Robson
.
JK
Ad
ve
rt
ising
managing
dir
ec
to
rM
illan
Joshi
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