And the team behind the West Midlands Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), led by Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, is exploring new ways of ensuring leaders and managers get the training and support they need to help overcome the issue.
The LSIP team, support by West Midlands Combined Authority, Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and Black Country Chamber of Commerce, held the event with businesses and training providers at Millennium Point in Birmingham.
Key figures from the Chambers and the WMCA presented findings from the first phase of the LSIP that identified skills shortages in the region, whcih included a stark shortfall in leadership and management.
The event heard businesses struggle to recruit skilled leaders and managers, particularly project and programme managers, and many SMEs lack time and resources to engage with existing high-quality training.
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Businesses tell me they often struggle to find people with the right skills for jobs they need to fill.”
Solutions workshops will take place in 2026. For more information about the LSIP contact lsip@cw-chamber.co.uk
