Upskilling the UK cell and gene therapy industry

For the second year running, the Advanced Therapies Apprenticeship Community (ATAC) hosted a roadshow of events during national apprenticeship week. The ATAC team met with current and future employers, training providers and apprentices in Manchester, Stevenage and Oxford, hosting workshops to convey the benefits of advanced therapies apprenticeship programmes. The ATAC programme has already had a tremendous impact, having grown significantly in the number of participating companies and apprentices enrolled in programmes in just over one year. We saw fantastic attendance and participation over the three days, building on the continuous momentum of the community to move forward. Find out more in our new video

Three new programmes
There is an increasing demand for skills to support the accelerating growth of the cell and gene therapy sector in the UK. In response to recommendations by the Medicine Manufacturing Industry Partnership (MMIP) Advanced Therapies Manufacturing Taskforce, CGT Catapult was awarded £1.5 million by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to establish ATAC in 2018, with the aim to develop the first apprenticeship programmes specifically designed to train and upskill staff in the sector.Continuing the significant progress ATAC has made since its inception, the community are launching three new advanced therapies apprenticeships to commence this year. In close partnership with industry and academic partners, the new programmes have been designed across a range of levels and specialisations, including research science and ATMP engineering, to widen the talent pool in these areas. Visit the ATAC website to find out more about the apprenticeships currently on offer.

UK Life Sciences Skills Strategy
Earlier in the month, the Science Industry Partnership (SIP) published their Life Sciences 2030 Skills Strategy, setting out how the UK life sciences sector will attract, train and retain the technical skills it needs over the coming decade. We are proud of the recognition of ATAC in the report as one of the initiatives addressing skills gaps in the sector. The Life Sciences 2030 Skills Strategy was developed by SIP in partnership with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and the BioIndustry Association (BIA), and with support from the Office for Life Sciences (OLS). Download the report