Marks & Spencer joins essential digital skills coalition

Marks & Spencer has joined FutureDotNow, a coalition of organisations looking to accelerate the UK’s workplace essential digital skills at scale.

According to its own words, FutureDotNow “is coordinating industry action to get working-age adults across the UK equipped with, at least, the essential digital skills for life and work”.

Despite digital transformation being key to the UK’s economy, 17 million people are without the essential digital skills for work and only 23 percent have had any digital skills training from their employer, according to FutureDotNow.

Marks & Spencer said it “recognises the importance of digital skills across its entire organisation, whatever colleagues’ roles happen to be”.

The retailer said it joined FutureDotNow “because it is keen to pass on its workplace digital skills training successes to the coalition for the benefit of the entire economy and to learn how other members of the coalition identify their digital skills needs and how they address them”.

Suze Howse, head of enterprise data at Marks & Spencer, said in a release: “Building the digital and data analytics capabilities of our colleagues is key to the Marks & Spencer digital transformation.

“We’ve already made some great progress with the launch of our BEAM learning academy and continued investment in data-education programmes. Fostering a digitally-enabled culture is crucial to the success of Marks & Spencer and the wider retail industry, which is why we’re proud to join the FutureDotNow Coalition, to share insights that will help others and learn from some of the other fantastic organisations in the coalition.”

Liz Williams, FutureDotNow’s chief executive, said: “It’s great news that Marks & Spencer, one of the biggest names in retailing, has joined the FutureDotNow coalition to help digitally upskill the UK’s workforce.

“We are building a coalition that is not only making clear there is a job to be done digitally upskilling the nation, its members are helping each other do this.”

Image: Marks & Spencer, Facebook