Building skills of Yorkshire's financial and professional services workforce for brilliant future: John Heaps

Employing over 149,000 people and generating £11.8billion, the sector is one of the region’s success stories.

The booming sector is a mixture of old and new, with multinational banks and fintech start-ups calling the region home alongside centuries-old law firms, building societies and mutuals. More recently, institutions such as the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority and the new UK Infrastructure Bank have all chosen to launch operations in Leeds - making it a second hub for financial bodies outside of London.

It's not just organisations and the UK economy that benefit from the sector, but people who work in the sector too. Jobs in financial and professional services in the region are skilled, productive and, on average, better paid than the jobs in the region as a whole.

Over the last decade, Yorkshire and the Humber has seen the third highest growth in financial and professional services of any region in England. This growth is predicted to continue, with financial and business services expected to drive over half of Leeds’ economic expansion over the coming decade.

But the sector is also undergoing rapid change and must react to challenges such as the impact of technology, changing workforce demographics and shifts in workplace culture to secure its ongoing success.

Having spent my career in both legal and financial services firms in the region I have seen first-hand the growth of the sector and the speed of change that it is currently undergoing, which is why I have been very pleased to chair the Yorkshire and the Humber Financial and Professional Services Skills Commission to address this challenge.

The Commission recently formed to establish an understanding of what skills financial and professional services employers in Yorkshire and the Humber require, and create a vision for how businesses, education providers, local government and others can work together to ensure the skills needs are met.

The Commission’s first report has set out five key recommendations to ensure the region’s workforce keeps pace with the rapid changes of the industry. These include:

• Expanding the pipeline of new talent entering the industry by taking new approaches to recruitment, such as increasing the use of higher-level apprenticeships, developing employer understanding of T-Levels and broadening engagement with students.
• Increasing investment in developing the skills of the existing workforce, focusing on employee development as a strategic priority and guaranteeing opportunities for staff to learn new skills.
• Raising awareness of, and access to, financial and professional services careers in the region with careers outreach in schools and colleges, focusing on ‘cold spots’ where young people have less access to the industry.
• Driving greater diversity and inclusion in the workforce – measuring workforce diversity, closing gaps and implementing evidence-based diversity and inclusion strategies.
• Coordinating and collaborating on shared skills challenges, with employers, educators, politicians and other stakeholders working closely and more effectively to solve our collective challenges.

In the years to come, financial and professional services have the potential to play an even more significant role in Yorkshire and the Humber’s future, but this can only happen if we create the best possible conditions for existing businesses to grow in the region.

Political leadership, investor confidence and local infrastructure will all be important but the key element will always be our people. The continued success of financial and professional services will depend on whether its workforce has the skills to succeed in an industry that is changing rapidly.

It is my hope – and that of the Yorkshire and the Humber Financial and Professional Skills Commission – that greater collaboration between business, government and education providers will help equip the workforce of the future to deliver even greater success and prosperity for the region.

John Heaps is Chair of Yorkshire Building Society and the Yorkshire and The Humber Financial and Professional Skills Commission