FED Ambassador: WorldSkills UK is a skills quality improvement partnership between employers, education and governments. Neil joined WorldSkills UK as CEO in 2015 and under his tenure, the organisation has grown and developed to focus on how international benchmarking from the global WorldSkills network in over 80 countries can be harnessed to drive up standards in apprenticeships and technical education across the UK so more young people and the economy succeed.
Neil was previously Deputy Director-General and Chief Operating Officer at the CBI, the UK’s premier business organisation, where he worked for 12 years at the highest level of the business and government interface nationally and internationally on issues such as trade and investment, diversity, skills and employment, public services reform, climate change and infrastructure development.
Neil is a trustee of the Whitehall and Industry Group and a trustee of the IPA employment think tank. He was also the former CEO of OUTstanding, a business network for LGBT leaders and their allies, and former deputy chair of Stonewall, the LGBT equality charity. He holds a PhD in race equality in the workplace and was awarded an OBE for services to diversity and inclusion in the 2019 New Year’s Honours List. In 2019, Neil was also awarded an honorary doctorate by Middlesex University for services to STEM education.
