British Talent Attraction Index

INTRODUCTION
As Kevin Green notes in the Foreword, the labour
market in Britain is currently very tight, with job
creation outstripping the number of available workers.
For employers, this means having to compete harder
to attract the right talent to sustain and grow their
business. For economic developers, it means doing
more to ensure that the businesses in their area are
getting the workers they need through targeted skills
strategies, by working closely with local education
providers and employers, and in seeking to make their
area a more attractive place to live and work to attract
talent from outside the area.
However, although we often talk about the “national” economy
or “Britain’s” labour market, we need to recognise that
these are in reality aggregates of multiple local economies.
Furthermore, each of these local labour markets will have
its own unique mix of industries, businesses, occupations
and skills, plus a variety of different factors that might make
it a good location for business to locate or relocate, and an
attractive place for people to live and work.
Part of the role of economic developers is to find out what
their area’s Unique Selling Points are, and to use them to attract
investment and talent into the area. Localised data can play a
big part in this, since it can be used firstly to identify how well
a local economy is currently doing in terms of attracting talent,
and secondly in giving a better understanding of the economic
and labour market factors that make the area special.
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BRITISH TALENT ATTRACTION INDEX