The skills gap and getting young people into work have long been a hot topic for politicians and business leaders alike.

As with so many sectors, retail faces these issues alongside a host of other challenges, from the rise in online shopping to ever-changing technology in the workplace.

Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket group, commissioned a report earlier this year which analysed its contribution to communities, suppliers and the economy to understand how Tesco can serve regions like Birmingham better in the future.

'Value in your Town' highlights how the retailer contributes by creating jobs, building long-term partnerships and supporting the communities it operates in.

Tesco is one of the major retail employers in the region.

The supermarket aims to provide those colleagues who make up the 11,000 full time equivalent roles in the West Midlands with jobs which enable everyone to develop their skills and career in a way that works for them.

To play its part in addressing the region's skills gap, Tesco brought together a roundtable of experts from education, business and charities.

The roundtable panel
The roundtable panel

Meet the panel

■ Wendy Anderson, employer and partnership manager, Department for Work and Pensions

■ Alison Bond, senior employer engagement manager, The Careers & Enterprise Company

■ Lucy Broome, store manager, Tesco Sheldon

■ Michele Farmer, director for central England, The Prince's Trust

■ David Farrow, director of marketing strategy and communications, Aston University

■ Anne Green, professor of regional economic development, Birmingham Business School

■ Gurdeep Hanspaul, head of talent match, BSVC

■ Sue Horton, employer and partnership leader, Department for Work and Pensions

■ Jasvinder Madahar, assistant principal employment pathways, Queen Alexandra College

■ Angela Moore, lead schools and business officer, Black Country Consortium

■ Simon Purkess, Midlands head of retail, consumer and leisure, food and drink, KPMG

■ Marc Reeves, editor-in-chief, Reach Midlands

■ Emily Stubbs, policy and patron adviser, Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce

■ Lucy Supperstone, director of skills, standards and learning, SLQ

■ Emma Taylor, people director, Tesco UK and ROI

■ Anshu Williams, business consultant, South & City College

Emma Taylor, people director for Tesco UK and Ireland, set the scene for the West Midlands: "Retail accounts for ten per cent of jobs in the West Midlands and 42 per cent of people in Birmingham see retail as the main sector driving the jobs market, which illustrates the opportunity we have to make a difference.

"We take that responsibility really seriously."

Lucy Broome, store manager of Sheldon Tesco (left), and Emma Taylor, people director for Tesco UK and Ireland
Lucy Broome, store manager of Sheldon Tesco (left), and Emma Taylor, people director for Tesco UK and Ireland

Retail's perception problem

Is there a perception among young people that a career in retail isn't an option for them?

AB: "We see it as a very large, diverse, multi-national sector through which young people can learn.

"But some young people feel that retail is not an option."

MF: "From our research, we know young people are clearly very anxious and fear there is no long-term security in some sectors, particularly with what's happening on the high street."

AB: "Is it about young people not understanding the diversity of the roles they could take?

"They go into Tesco, they see the shop floor and checkouts and think that's it."

LB: "I had a retail job when I was 17. At that time, I thought there were no careers in retail and this was just a part-time job but when I came to Tesco I saw there was so much more than that."

DF: "I think retail is a strong careers option for graduates and the programmes run by retailers such as Tesco are very popular.

"I don't see that as being a challenge at graduate level but it clearly is a challenge at other levels."

ET: "I went along to a session with some sixth formers in Birmingham, spending an afternoon talking to them and doing some myth busting on those preconceptions about a career in retail.

"It was fascinating to learn what was on their minds versus the reality, and now we can help to change that."

Tesco hosted a roundtable event at the Birmingham & Midland Institute
Tesco hosted a roundtable event at the Birmingham & Midland Institute

Reaching and attracting young people

AB: "The elongated programmes of work experience are the most beneficial.

"Being able to offer schools and colleges work placements and job shadowing more flexibly - as challenging as that is - is really important for employers."

AM: "We welcome the changes that are going to take place in schools which put careers advice and enterprise activities really at the forefront.

SH: "We've got schools advisers now in Birmingham, and what they're doing is trying to up-skill young people into knowing what career paths there are within the different sectors."

AM: "We've been talking about how we can reach young people and the target audience really are the careers leaders, careers advisers, and the parents, not particularly the young people, I'll be honest.

"Those are the people that will help influence young people's decision-making processes."

Michele Farmer, The Prince's Trust
Michele Farmer, The Prince's Trust

Building skills through jobs in retail – what role can retail play in addressing the skills gap?

ET: "We have to acknowledge the changing nature of the high street and our responsibility is how we continuously develop all of our colleagues to have skills for the future around innovation, entrepreneurship and digital.

"We're really committed to keeping our colleagues' skills topped up. One of the things that we've been focusing on is moving from classroom-based learning to learning that our colleagues can access on the go.

"And colleagues in stores consistently tell me is how valuable learning tools like apps are."

JM: "I think most of us had our first work experience within retail. Having a job at 16 in a shop actually was fundamental to bringing up my confidence. There's a skillset that's built right from there."

MF: "I really like that idea that customer service is a really good skill set, though it's quite difficult to sell because not all people know what the phrase really means.

"And yet it's a basic skill set – of how to deal with people, how to manage conflict and how to manage your own communication – that's the way out of the trap that many unemployed young people are in."

ET: "Whatever your route into Tesco, we have a core training programme, and we help you to map your career around what's important to you.

"We're doing some more targeted work too, for example we've got a programme supporting a number of colleagues who have expressed an interested in moving from their current jobs into software engineering.

"So there are lots of different career paths out there, whatever your background and experience might be."

Anshu Williams, South & City College
Anshu Williams, South & City College

The opportunity to lead on diversity

DF: "The retail sector does showcase diversity much more strongly than some other sectors of the market.

"A report published over the summer said there were a lot of young people that see jobs are there but they don't think they would fit it."

JM: "Environment is really important. It's very different, being on Handsworth Hollyhead Road than the city centre.

"Young people are most confident in their own communities because they can identify with clothing, speech, communication."

MR: "Employers like Tesco have clearly a massive role to play, and the location of your stores shows that you are actually more proximate to some of those communities that we sometimes label hard to reach than maybe others who purport to talk about skills generation."

ET: "We're trying to break down barriers to entry. Last week we marked International Day of People with Disability at our head office and we're also a Disability Confident employer.

"We have senior colleagues with disabilities who advocate how environment and opportunity can come together with practical chances to progress your career.

"So it's not just a mission statement but it's the reality of how we're working with colleagues on these issues."

Jasvinder Madahar, Queen Alexandra College
Jasvinder Madahar, Queen Alexandra College

Emma Taylor, people director for Tesco UK and Ireland, reflected on the discussion and what it means for Tesco:

"It came through loud and clear that young people aren't as excited as they could be about working in retail, whether as a short-term job or as a long-term career.

"It's therefore important that businesses like Tesco work hard to shift people's perception of what it means to work in the sector.

"By highlighting the spectrum of skills a job in retail can develop, we can hopefully show people of any age that a job in retail helps you 'get on'.

"Having the chance to speak with so many of those involved in closing the skills gap in the West Midlands really brought home Tesco's unique ability to offer employment opportunities to people within the communities where they feel they belong.

"Our network of stores means no-one should ever be 'hard to reach', so we're in the best possible position to build the most diverse workforce in the country.

"So crucially, we should continue to talk to each other to understand and overcome perceived barriers and prove that we mean it when we say everyone is welcome at Tesco."