We’re delighted to announce our first event in what will become a series of partner events with a number of the UK’s leading Think Tanks this spring – in this first one, our Deputy Chair Rob Wilson will be discussing ‘how to improve jobs, boost growth, and unlock social mobility in every corner of the UK’ with a panel of leading experts.  

Like many of you, we have been celebrating National Apprenticeship Week this week – our Chair Alun Francis OBE has been talking to Tom Richmond, founder and director of EDSK. Find out what they discussed below!

We’re always interested to hear what you’ve been up to as well – if you have an employer social mobility story to share, or you’re looking for a member of the Commission to speak at your event, you can always get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading,

The SMC Employers Team

Upcoming events:

In House Recruitment Expo London 2024

27th February 2024

Employers play a key role in influencing and shaping an individual’s social mobility outcomes.

Paula Kemp, our Head of Employer Engagement will host a seminar at IHRE looking at ‘Why you should consider social mobility in your D&I strategy’ – sharing what actions and initiatives employers can take to ensure that Socio-economic diversity cuts across teams, functions and levels.

Find out more about In House Recruitment Expo on our website. (Please note this event is organised externally by VAB Events Ltd and entrance to the Expo is free of charge)

Promoting potential: how to improve jobs, boost growth, and unlock social mobility in every corner of the UK

29th February 2024

We’ve partnered with Think Tank Social Market Foundation to host a dynamic panel discussion exploring how regional economic growth and better employment opportunities are key to supporting social mobility.

Our panel of experts includes Alison McGovern MP (Shadow Minister for Employment and Social Security) and Rob Wilson (Deputy Chair, Social Mobility Commission).  

Join us online as this panel comes together to discuss ways to boost regional economic growth to improve social mobility throughout the UK. 

Find out more about this Think Tank event on our website. 

Genie Live Conference 2024

6th March 2024, 9.30am

Join Paula Kemp, Head of Employer Engagement at the Social Mobility Commission to discuss how employers can use data to monitor the impact of social mobility through their apprenticeship programmes.

Find out more about Genie Live on our website. (Please note this event is organised externally by Amazing Apprenticeships and there is an attendance fee associated with registering.)

Retail Week Live: Social Mobility and the Retail Sector

12th March 2024, 3.50pm

Commissioner Parminder Kohli will join Retail Week Live for a fireside chat about Social Mobility and the Retail Sector. He will be joined by Paul Gerrard, Campaign and Public Affairs Director at the Co-op, who is also a member of the SMC’s Employer Advisory Group.  

The session will take place under the conference theme of People & Wellbeing, and amongst other things Parminder will talk about the SMC’s Retail Employers’ Toolkit which we launched in July 2023.  

Find out more about Retail Week Live on our website. (Please note this event is organised externally by Retail Week and The Grocer, and there is an attendance fee associated with registering.)

Hear more from the SMC:

Bolstering our Employer Advisory Group: Bringing the employer voice to the SMC

We’ve strengthened our Employer Advisory Group, adding some new members covering a widening range of industries – Commissioner Parminder Kohli discusses the group here and we share what they consider are the next steps in supporting employers to build socio-economic inclusion in their workforce. 

Apprenticeships: Bridging the Gap for Disadvantaged Learners?

Apprenticeships are one of the best mechanisms available to employers to build diverse, talented and committed teams from the ground up. However, currently they disproportionately favour learners from more advantaged backgrounds, meaning they are not living up to their potential as real drivers of social mobility. 

Find out more about our apprenticeships research.

Social Mobility Talks

Episode 5: Charter Schools

Our Deputy Chair, Rob Wilson talks to Barry Smith, founding Deputy of Michaela School, Wembley and Head Teacher at Great Yarmouth Charter School about the US No Excuses Charter Schools and how these lessons could be applied in the UK.  

Episode 6: Apprenticeships

To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, our Chair Alun Francis OBE has been talking to Tom Richmond, founder and director of EDSK.

In this episode, they discuss why apprenticeships are important and how they have the potential to improve social mobility across the country – addressing the big question on ‘what is holding apprenticeships back from being an effective social mobility tool?’ and discussing what can be done to address these barriers.  

Listen now on Youtube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!  

In case you missed it:

• Have you heard about our ‘It’s Child’s Play’ campaign? ‘It’s Child’s Play’ provides practical resources and easy ways of engaging with children to help get them school ready, and make sure that children from all backgrounds can have the best start to school.
• Deputy Chair, Rob Wilson, discusses the findings of our Family and Parenting Programmes Rapid Evidence Review, concluding that skills acquisition should be designed into all early years programmes and made a top priority for policymakers and educators. You can read Rob’s full article here.