The regional policy literature has shown renewed interest in the promotion of industries with the potential to embed themselves into regional economies. Unfortunately, analysis of sectors within strategy-led documents often fails to tie the identification of key industries to any specific...

In France the state controlled training of apprentices is well developed and integrated with vocational education generally. The article offers an analysis and comparison with the UK system, which lags behind France in providing an educated, trained and flexible workforce.

Britain's Present Plight: The Manpower Services Commission (MSC) note that “The last few years have seen a steep decline in output and employment. Between mid 1979 and mid 1981 national out‐put fell by about 8 per cent and manufacturing output by nearly 20 per cent… Employment has fallen...

Skills shortages in manufacturing industry, especially in the area of information technology (IT), are reviewed in the light of clear evidence indicating the UK's increasing shortfall. Open learning may provide an effective response, particularly through Open Tech, the Open College and the Open...