UK win makes London World Skills Capital

The UK has won the bid to host the WorldSkills Competition in London in 2011. Voting took place today in Melbourne at the WorldSkills Annual General Meeting with delegates from the 38 different member nations of the WorldSkills organisation.

WorldSkills, held every two years, will take place in London from 6-9 October 2011. The competition will be in ExCeL London, one of the main venues for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.  The UK bid faced strong competition from Australia and Sweden.

Education and Skills Secretary Alan Johnson said:

'This is wonderful news. We now have a unique chance with the Government, business and the education sector working closely together to raise the status of skills and vocational education dramatically and inspire a new generation of youngsters to take up good careers in all sectors of the economy.'

Chris Humphries, chairman of UK Skills, the organisation which spearheaded the UK bid, and director-general of City & Guilds said: 'This is such an achievement for the UK. We now have the foundations to raise the profile of WorldSkills in the UK and at a global level. '

'We also now have the chance to raise the profile of the skills that will make the London Olympic and Paralympic Games possible.  For too long the vocational route has been seen as inferior to academic studies but succeeding in the skills sector takes just as much dedication, determination and hard work. Participating in Skills Competitions drives forward individuals' aspirations, provides them with a way to benchmark their skills and to recognise their achievements.

'Watching over 700 young people compete to attain World Class standards in skills is truly exhilarating and I can't wait for 2011 when London will host the WorldSkills Competition, it will be absolutely incredible.'
 
WorldSkills events will be staged only 20 minutes from central London, welcoming young people from around the world to compete in over 40 skills areas in a richly diverse city of 300 communities. Interactive technology will be used to promote the competition widely and raise the profile and status of vocational skills, technicians and specialist crafts to a wider audience.

WorldSkills is the largest skills competition in the world with 40 different countries participating.  Medals are won in skills areas ranging from hairdressing and beauty therapy to landscape skills and welding.

Claridge's, L'Oréal Professionnel and Honda worked with the UK team in Melbourne to lobby for delegates' votes. The bidding to host the 2011 WorldSkills Competition began in September 2005. After validation in January 2006 by two visiting WorldSkills board members UK Skills was given the green light to submit a formal bid by the 31st March.
 
There has been strong support for the UK bid from the Government, the Mayor of London, business and individuals. Sponsors have pledged £11million in funding, which the Government has pledged to match if the bid proves successful. This funding would cover the costs of hosting the event, at around £22 million, which the Government has also agreed to underwrite.

Ends

UK Bid Partners: City & Guilds, the Department for Education and Skills,
Edge, The Honda Institute, the Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland, the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government

UK bid supporters include: Akzo Nobel Decorative Coatings Ltd, AMEC , Angus College , Anne Tyrell Design, Association of Colleges , BBC, Borough of Newham Volunteers, Brathay, British Computer Society, British Council , British Hospitality Association, CBI, City and Guilds, Cisco Systems, City of London, Chapter One Restaurant, Claridge's Hotel, Confederation of British Industry, Cosmetics Executive Women UK, Data Connection, Department for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland, DCMS, DTI, Edexcel, Edge, ExCeL London, Federal Mogul, FESTO Ltd, FLUKE, Greater London Authority, Hanson Building Products, Harcourt Education, Highlands and Islands Executive, HONDA UK, IiP UK, Irwins, Jaeger, Jewsons, Karl Vella Group, Learndirect Scotland, Learning and Skills Council, L' Oreal, LIVE, London Development Agency, London First, McAVOY, Marks Barfield Architect, NCFE, Newham Volunteers, Oaklands College, The 02, Radisson Edwardian Mayfair, The Rainbird Group plc, Scottish Adult Learning Partnership, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Executive, Scottish Qualifications Authority, Sector Skills Alliance Authority, Sector Skills Development Agency, Skills Active, Skills Active Wales, Thames Water, Trade Union Congress, QCA, UKVisas, VisitBritain, Visit London, Visit Scotland, Welsh Assembly Government, Whitland Engineering
 
'Exclusive clothing' for the UK delegation provided by Jaeger

Contact information:

Lisa Sutherland, 07801 979 987

Kathryn Dove, UK Skills, 0207 543 7414, 07906 042 770, kathryn.dove@ukskills.org.uk
Fax: 0207 543 1360.

Oksana Higglesden and Nina Roman, City & Guilds  020 7294 2556/8054

Notes to editors
The following spokespeople are available for interview:

London

WorldSkills 2011

The 2011 WorldSkills Competition will be the 41st WorldSkills Competition.

The formal vote to decide the host of the 2011 WorldSkills Competition took place on 10 May 2006 in Melbourne, Australia at 4.00pm (local time).

The vote took place over 1 round.

In order to bid to host the 2011 WorldSkills Competition the three countries each had to submit an expression of interest (EOI) in 2005. Following the submission of the EOI two WorldSkills board members visited each of the prospective host cities, after successful visits to all three cities, the three countries were invited to submit a formal bid to the WorldSkills Secretariat by the 31st March.

For further information please see http://www.worldskillslondon2011.com/

WorldSkills
The first WorldSkills Competition took place in Madrid in 1950 as a forum for young people to demonstrate their vocational skills and achieve world-class standards of competence.

WorldSkills is the largest skills competition in the world and takes place biennially. The last competition was held in 2005 in Helsinki, Finland where almost 700 competitors took part in the event.

Competitors are young people aged between 18 and 23 and come from the 40 different member nations. They compete over four days in skills ranging from Beauty Therapy to Restaurant Service, Bricklaying to Autobody Repair.

In addition to the competition, WorldSkills provides an opportunity for sharing leading edge thinking about training.

UK Skills
The UK bid was spearheaded by UK Skills, the organisation that manages the UK's WorldSkills team.

UK Skills is an independent organisation which works to enhance the UK skills base through competitions and awards.