Party Conferences
City & Guilds is excited to share the Skills Hub which is now in its third year at the 2025 Labour and Conservative Party Conferences. The Skills Hub will feature a programme of activities, including panel discussions, receptions, and roundtables hosted by various organisations to advocate for the importance of skills. Explore the full programme below and join us at these events to champion the importance of skills.
Labour Party Conference
Sunday 28 – Wednesday 01 October 2025, Liverpool across the ACC, ECL and the Pullman Hotel venues.
Visit the Skills Hub on the Deck
City & Guilds events
Mission Construction – Can the Workforce Rise to the Challenge
Monday 29 September, 08.15-09.30
Breakfast Roundtable | Invite only; please contact dominic.collyer@cityandguilds.com to express interest in attending
The Skills Reception
Monday 29 September, 20.00-22.00
The Skills Reception is back, a standout moment in this year’s conference season! Celebrate the power of skills to change lives, strengthen communities and boost opportunity across the country. Join key partners, leaders and policymakers to recognise the progress being made and to spotlight the people, places and programmes driving that change. A senior political stakeholder will deliver a keynote address, reflecting on the role of skills in shaping the future of work and opportunity.
Evening Reception | Invite only; please contact dominic.collyer@cityandguilds.com to express interest in attending
The Industrial Strategy and skills: The key to unlock the government’s goals
Tuesday 30 September, 12:45-13:45, Skills Hub on the Deck
Panel Discussion | Free to attend | Part of the Skills Hub Programme
Skills Hub Programme
Sunday 28 September
- 16.15 Devo Agency/NPEESS Can Metro Mayors Break Down Barriers to Opportunities?
Monday 29 September
- 08.15 City & Guilds Mission Construction: Can the Workforce Rise to the Challenge?
- 08.15 Youth Futures Foundation Youth Zone Crossover – Building Futures: Rebuilding Trust with Young People
- 09.45 St Martins Group Skills for all: Ten key insights from employers
- 10.45 Youth Employment UK Youth Zone Crossover – Youth Voice Census 2025 Key Findings
- 12.00 Design and Technology Association Linking classroom and commerce to design a better future
- 12.30 FutureDotNow The Digital Dividend: workforce skills for growth and prosperity
- 13.45 AELP Skills Devolution: the game changer for your constituents
- 15.00 CIPD Driving the Growth Mission: Improving AI adoption and delivering an AI-ready workforce
- 16.00 Youth Employment UK Youth Zone Crossover – Employer Engagement & The Youth Guarantee
- 16.00 LTE Skills, growth and devolution: National ambitions, regional priorities
- 17.15 ETF How the FE & Skills sector can boost Labour’s Five Missions
- 17.15 Be The Business Productivity Advocacy Group
- 20.00 City & Guilds Skills Reception at the Beatles Story Museum
Tuesday 30 September
- 08.30 Devo Agency/NPEESS The Great Big Northern Breakfast
- 08.30 Be The Business Boosting Growth: UK Defence Sector
- 10.00 Ufi AI, Growth and Skills: What does vocational technology mean for Labour’s industrial strategy?
- 11.15 Youth Futures Foundation Youth Zone Crossover – Inseparable Challenges: the scarring cycle of youth unemployment and the growing crisis in young people’s mental health
- 12.45 City & Guilds The Industrial Strategy and skills: The key to unlock the government’s goals
- 12.45 Design and Technology Association Curriculum Review: Designed to Make A Difference – Critical thinking and practical application in an age of rapid changes in technology and AI
- 14.00 Leaders Speech
- 16.00 What works Centre Post-Speech Reception
Conservative Party Conference
Sunday 5 October – Wednesday 8 October 2025, Manchester Central Convention Complex
City & Guilds events
The Skills Reception
Monday 6 October, 20.00-22.00
Evening Reception | Invite only; please contact dominic.collyer@cityandguilds.com to express interest in attending
Mission Construction – Can the Workforce Rise to the Challenge?
Tuesday 7 October, 08.15-09.30
Breakfast Roundtable | Invite only; please contact dominic.collyer@cityandguilds.com to express interest in attending
Skills Hub Programme
Monday 06 October
- 19.00 City & Guilds Skills Reception
Tuesday 07 October
- 08.15 City & Guilds Mission Construction: Can the Workforce Rise to the Challenge?
- 10.00 Ufi AI, Growth and Skills: Tech’s role in bringing aspiration and opportunity to vocational education
- 11:15 Be The Business TBC
- 12.30 FutureDotNow & CIPD Driving growth: Improving AI adoption and delivering an AI-ready workforce
- 12.30 St Martin’s Group & YFF TBC
- 13.45 LTE Skills growth and devolution
- 15.00 AELP Skills Devolution: the game changer for your constituents
Skills hub partners
Voice for skills
Future Skills Coalition
Our partnership with AELP and AOC aims to drive a coherent and sustained model for future skills development and workforce investment.
Report library
Find all of the City & Guilds research reports in one place, from social impact reports to thought leadership, industry research, policy recommendations and much more.
Party conferences
City & Guilds is hosting the Skills Hub at the party conferences this year. If you are attending, find out more and see what sessions we’ll be running so you can join on the day.