Blog
As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the UKESF, we thought we should look back to the very beginning to learn more about the start of our journey. To do this, we have collected the memories of those who were principally involved at the time. Click the links below to read our series of interviews and find out how the UKESF was created in the words of the people who were there.
Indro Mukerjee, Former Chair – “The skills gap has been a well-known thing in the UK and much discussed, but doing is better than just discussing so the intention was to take a practical step of action … The fact that the UKESF is still around and going strong after 10 years is testimony to its value to industry, universities and other stakeholders. That’s the most pleasing thing of all.”
Lynn Tomkins, Chair & Director – “The business model has evolved in terms of expanding key activities and initiatives, in addition to the Scholarship. I see two major steps in improving business performance – the appointment of Stew as our CEO, and the development of Electronics Everywhere.”
Derek Boyd, Trustee & Director, Former CEO of NMI/TechWorks – “As we’ve moved forward, seeing so many incredibly bright young people coming through the program and developing excellent careers has been great to see and continues to motivate me … I hope we will see the Foundation’s role continue to encourage more young people to embark on this journey and that we give them as much help as possible along the way.”
Wendy Daniell, Former Programme Director – “My first memories are of arranging and attending meetings all around the UK to engage with potential stakeholders for this group. Once the group was formed, we had a series of day-long meetings, which resulted in a proposal for the UKESF … Ultimately, we hoped our Scholars would be become the next generation of leaders in the Electronics sector.”
John Moor, NMI/Techworks – “We gathered anecdotal evidence, UCAS and university data, but that was not enough to get buy-in and real commitment – we needed to up our game. We were fortunate enough to win the interest of Indro Mukerjee and he encouraged us to put more effort into shaping up the plan … Then we had to take it on the road and socialise it with our most important stakeholder group besides the raw talent: industry.”
Darren Race, Trustee & Director, Leader Facilitator at Scholar Workshop – “I have been involved with the UKESF from its formation back in 2010. The key differentiator for me is how the programme was designed, driven and aligned with the demand/requirements of employers, i.e. industry led; something which is unique. This is further demonstrated by the level of industry engagement and investment throughout the programme.”
