The Importance of Developing World-Class Skills for Jobs and Prosperity in the North West

Bev is a member of the Board of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. She was on the Independent Panel for the Review of Post 18 Education and Funding which produced the Augar report and was a member of the Independent Panel on Technical Education chaired by Lord Sainsbury. Bev is a member of the Lancashire LEP Skills and Employment Advisory Panel and a member of Blackpool Town Deal Board.

In his role of Official Delegate, Peter Mucklow is responsible for representing the UK within WorldSkills and WorldSkills Europe and also supports and strengthens the partnership between WorldSkills UK and UK Government.

Neil joined WorldSkills UK as CEO in 2015 and under his tenure, the organisation has grown and developed to focus on how international benchmarking from the global WorldSkills network in over 80 countries can be harnessed to drive up standards in skills development across the UK.

Neil was previously Deputy Director-General and Chief Operating Officer at the CBI, the UK’s premier business organisation, where he worked for 12 years at the highest level of the business and government interface nationally and internationally on issues such as trade and investment, diversity, skills and employment, public services reform, climate change and infrastructure development.

Neil is a trustee of the Whitehall and Industry Group, a member of the advisory council for the IPA employment think tank and the independent member of the Social Inclusion Committee at Warwick University. He was also the former CEO of OUTstanding, a business network for LGBT leaders and their allies, and former deputy chair of Stonewall, the LGBT equality charity. He holds a PhD in race equality in the workplace and was awarded an OBE

for services to diversity and inclusion in the 2019 New Year’s Honours List. In 2019, Neil was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Middlesex University for services to STEM education.

Michele took up the role of Director of the Lancashire Skills Hub in August 2015, and is responsible for the development and implementation of the Lancashire Skills and Employment Strategic Framework, reporting to the Lancashire LEP Skills and Employment Board.

Previously she was Head of Enterprise and Innovation at the University of Cumbria and Head of Skills and Education at the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), leading on two themes of the Regional Economic Strategy. She was also previously Partnerships Director at Connexions Lancashire.

A Chartered Psychologist, Michele is passionate about people and social mobility, and the contribution that skilled, engaged and productive people can make to economic regeneration and business growth.