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“Skills gap” the biggest problem


Friday, 17th November 2006


“The Skills Gap is our problem” or so says Ian Wood, training director of Sheffield based Shepherd Distribution following the release of a recent study by Lloyds TSB.


The study shows a third of firms feel that a shortage of good quality staff is the biggest threat to their business. Of the 2200 businesses who responded to the survey, 48% had experienced difficulty recruiting skilled staff this year.


But, says Mr Wood, employers have to shoulder their share of the blame for being unwilling to invest in their employees. “We recently received European Objective One funding under the “Come And Get It” initiative for investment in staff training, and the impact on our business has been incredible. Since we began the training our drivers have been more efficient, their safety record has got even better and they have improved in terms of customer facing.”


The transport sector is amongst the worst hit by the skills shortage with 57% of respondents to the survey experiencing difficulty finding the right staff.


“It’s a question of adapting to the times. There’s no point in sitting back and waiting for someone else to do the training and whilst there’s plenty of grants out there, there’s really no excuse.”