Services: The Lion’s Share of the UK Economy (Including People, Talent & Skills)
The UK is a services trade superpower and the second largest exporter in the world at the time of this session. Its strengths are diverse, from educating international students to hosting film production, financing major infrastructure to supplying architects and skilled engineers to turn a plan to reality. These are delivered by companies of all sizes, including major multinationals, historic institutions like universities, small consultancy firms, and the self-employed.
Underpinning this strength is an infrastructure which is often ignored. This includes the ability to attract the right staff to the UK, and / or train the right people with the right skills. It means the warehousing and logistics which supports our retail and hospitality sectors, as well as the rules that govern the provision of those services. The availability of staff to take our food from farm to plate, and the visa rules allowing highly specialised staff to work for leading companies.
Much of this falls within the government’s domestic policy framework, whether skills or immigration policy. Some can be the subject of international agreements, for example for the recognition of qualifications. Little of it has been seen as a priority in the UK’s post-Brexit landscape, though supply chain strains were leading to some overdue attention being paid.
This session of the Trade and Business Commission looked at this underpinning of the UK’s services success story. In particular we tested whether the government’s policies are suitable for the post-Brexit services infrastructure, or whether we need to see changes of approach as shown by so many recent stories. We were joined by experts and practitioners in logistics, migration, and food production to answer these questions.
Paul Blomfield MP chaired this session.
Witnesses:
Session 1: General Services and Visas (10.00am - 11.00am)
Sally Jones, Trade Strategy and Brexit Leader, EY UK
Conor James McKinney, Visa Expert, Free Movement Law
Dr Ingo Borchert, Deputy Director, UK Trade Observatory
Professor Jun Du, Professor of Economics, Aston University
Session 2: Skills and Qualifications (11.00am - 12.00pm)
Charles Owen, Director, Seasonal Business in Travel
Mark Hilton, Membership Director, London First
Ross Archer, Director, Public Policy, Association of International Certified Professional Accountants