Oxfordshire is one of the most productive economies in the UK. It is also one of the most unequal. 36% of OBS2025 delegates named skilled labour shortage as their single biggest business challenge. The same delegates were optimistic about regional growth in 2025. Both things are true at the same time, and that tension is the talent problem in one sentence.
Future talent is not solved by another careers fair, another marketing campaign, another funding announcement. It is solved by aligning the actors that can produce talent at the scale, sequence and specification the regional pipeline actually needs. That is the work Storey already does on individual development sites. The thesis of this session was that the same alignment logic is what the region needs at the system level.
"The population will be far more supportive of growth if they can see it actually affecting them." Emma Coles · Partnership Manager, Oxfordshire Inclusive Economy Partnership · OBS2025 panel
Three things the panel agreed on.
Further education colleges are the underused asset. They deliver year-round, tailored, employer-aligned training in a way universities and short courses can't. Most regional skills strategies still treat them as a delivery partner, not a strategic anchor.
Partnerships beat programmes. The Oxford North + Careys partnership was named in the impact report as the model. Not because it ran a single campaign, but because the developer, the contractor, the council, the FE college and the brokerage charity were all running the same plan. That alignment is the unit of value, not the apprenticeship count.
Inclusive growth is a leadership choice, not a policy outcome. The panel was clear that purpose-led companies recruit better, retain better and scale faster. Inclusive recruitment, alternative entry routes and a deliberate retention strategy aren't soft additions to a business plan; they are the business plan in a region with a 36% labour shortage.