The UK Jewellery, Silverware, and Allied Crafts industry has expressed a strong commitment to maintaining open communication with the new UK Labour government to advance their trades.
This follows the recent appointments of Lisa Nandy as Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS), and Chris Bryant as Minister of State, according to a report in Professional Jeweller.
In February, Bryant – who was then serving as Shadow Minister – contacted the National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) in order to organize an industry-wide discussion in a bid to obtain an understanding of the challenges, requirements and opportunities within the industry.
As a result, 25 representatives from a selection of trade businesses and institutions met to assess the state of the industry and its future direction.
NAJ Chief Executive Ben Massey said, "As a group, we welcome Lisa Nandy and Chris Bryant. We are keen to continue our open dialogue and look forward to ongoing direct communication. All roundtable participants have expressed a desire for progress through collaboration, and we are now beginning to delve into some of the projects in more detail. There are challenges that affect not only our industry but many others as well. On issues like the economy and skills, we want to ensure that our collective voice is heard by the government with clarity and enthusiasm."
At the most recent roundtable meeting in June, the group made progress in four key areas identified during the initial gathering: Economics, People, Process, and Sector-Specific Issues.
Achievements included agreeing on the development of a state-of-trade indicator tool for industry access, preparing an industry report to showcase the sector's reach, impact, and value, conducting a strategic mapping exercise to identify skills gaps, and developing a careers website to attract new talent to the industry.
To ensure the roundtable is as representative as possible, the group is inviting organizations not currently involved to participate.
Philip Carter for Rough&Polished from London
