Apprenticeships in London: Boosting Skills in a City Economy - With Comment on Lessons from Germany

The London Apprenticeship Campaign was launched in 2010 to boost the number of apprentices in London. It was developed as part of an ongoing policy focus to tackle long-standing skill shortfalls in the city, shortages which have been constraining employment, social opportunity and productivity. A critical element was to establish more apprenticeship frameworks outside traditional sectors and in growth sectors dominating the local economy. A remarkable innovation in the campaign has been supplementing the supply-side approach with a demand-side policy by working to engage more private sector employers, while also ensuring a strong public sector commitment. Germany has one of the most successful apprenticeship models internationally and can provide good learning lessons for London on putting in place effective apprenticeship approaches at national, regional and local level.