MYFUTURE Education and Careers Guide 2021/22

on, let’s see your light shine and
let us see what you’re worth. Don’t
sit back and think it will never be
your chance because I recognise
everyone, no matter who they are,
no matter where they are in the
world, they will have something of
value to contribute.
The PCIAW® works closely
with the UKFT, who run a Skills
Council, which offers training
courses, apprenticeships and job
opportunities, which is open to all.
https://www.ukft.org/skills-andtraining/
What obstacles may BAME
candidates face when joining
the fashion industry?
I think people are now beginning
to open their eyes. We’re here in
the UK, and we’ve been pushing
the government to encourage
manufacturing closer to home, which
offers environmental benefits as well
social and economic opportunities.
The PCIAW® has hosted several
webinars on nearshoring
manufacturing of professional
clothing and I’m working tirelessly
to offer greater opportunities for
people and businesses and the
response has been phenomenal,
people are finally starting to get it.
The PCIAW® has a voice that goes
into government. We worked with
the UKFT to lobby for opportunities
for UK businesses to benefit from
government procurement contracts
and worked hard to educate the
National Audit Office and the UK
Cabinet Office on the complexities
of manufacturing and procuring
PPE. I have just joined the UK Home
Office Employers’ Consultation
Group to ensure fair working
practices and immigration policies.
We expect more opportunities for
the industry to arrive based on this
hard work.
I think what is lacking at the
moment is knowledge, pure and
simple – I and the PCIAW® hopes
to fix this going forward. From my
point of view, PCIAW® should aim
to achieve more. I want to invest
more money into making sure
that anybody who knocked on my
door could be pointed in the right
direction for advice or we could
help them directly ourselves.
That’s something that I and the
PCIAW® will be working on.
46
“I think it has to be
a state of mind.
BAME candidates
may need to work
twice as hard to
get ahead, so I say,
work three times as
hard and don’t let
anyone get in your
way. Persistence and
perseverance is key.”
Why are BAME candidates not
drawn to the clothing industry
and what are the remedies?
They’ve just got to believe in
themselves. I’m going to take away
the myths. I arrived in this country
from the Caribbean, Jamaica, when
I was just nine years old and my
parents were here to help rebuild
the country. My mother was a nurse,
and I thought to myself, what is
this strange place? The UK was
a foreign land to me. There was
nothing that the UK at the time was
offering me that I wasn’t getting in
my own country.
Personally, I can’t sit here today and
tell you that I have been bullied or
pushed aside. I’ve always respected
myself and tried to be brave –
I think it has to be a state of mind.
If somebody knocks you down, you
get up, brush yourself off and go
with it. BAME candidates may need
to work twice as hard to get ahead,
so I say, work three times as hard
and don’t let anyone get in your
way. Persistence and perseverance
is key. I like to say, ‘you never come
anywhere, you always arrive’.