UUK Roundtable
News
Bath Spa University host UUK Future Jobs roundtable
Thursday, 7 May, 2026Bath Spa University jointly hosted a Future Jobs Roundtable on April 22 with Universities UK (UUK), bringing together employers, public services, social enterprises and intermediary organisations from across the region.
Attendees included directors and leaders from across local business and organisations such as 3SG, Bath College, Bath & North East Somerset Council (B&NES), Business West, and Futures West.
The session formed part of UUK’s national Future Jobs programme, exploring how universities can better support employers with workforce skills, recruitment and adaptation in the context of economic change, digital transformation and demographic pressures.
The roundtable aimed to listen to employer’s experiences of skills gaps, recruitment pressures and workforce change, understand barriers to engaging with universities, and feed local insight into Universities UK’s national Future Jobs Roadmap.
The focus was firmly on the ‘everyday economy’ that includes sectors such as health and care, local government, hospitality, housing, education, culture, business support and the voluntary sector, which collectively employ a large proportion of the regional workforce.
Vice Chancellor and CEO of BSU, Prof Georgina Andrews, said of the event:
“It was a pleasure to host the UUK Future Jobs roundtable at Bath Spa University. Strengthening our connections with employers, business organisations and policy makers is a key part of the University’s Strategy 2035 to bolster our imprint in the South West region and beyond, and to support BSU students and graduates entering the workforce.”
She continued:
“BSU’s careers and employability approach focuses on embedding career development throughout the entire student journey, rather than treating it as a separate service. Students are supported from arrival to graduation through integrated programmes, personalised guidance, and real-world opportunities.”
The Future Jobs Roundtable highlighted that ’everyday economy’ employers are seeking different kinds of partnership that support confidence, readiness and progression, rebuild entry‑level and mid‑career pathways, help organisations adapt to change and simplify engagement with higher education.
Georgina added:
“Our Strategy 2035 talks about Inclusive Growth, and for us, that means the everyday economy. The spaces in which everyday lives are affected and given shape. It’s how we can impact services such as transport, education and health, and cut across various sectors - public, private, voluntary and community.
The everyday economy provides citizens with opportunities for employment, career development, and to share that with their families and their communities.”
The insights gathered from this roundtable will help inform Bath Spa University’s work on curriculum, employability, lifelong learning and employer engagement and its ongoing business engagement and development activity, as well as Universities UK’s national Future Jobs Roadmap and having ongoing conversations about the role of universities in supporting inclusive, place‑based economic growth.
More information about the Future Jobs Roadmap can be found on their website.