
Building Future - Ready Talent Pathways From First Work Experience to Ongoing Workforce Development
Designing skills programs that open doors, close gaps, and grow careers
I help organisations design, scale, and sustain inclusive pathways into work - from school-age experiences and internships to apprenticeships, up-skilling, and re-skilling for tomorrow’s economy
What I do?
Future Skills, Real Results
Whether you're an employer, a training provider, or a local authority, I partner with you to design and deliver high-impact skills programs that are: Inclusive -Reaching diverse and underserved groups
Why ?
Pathways That Work – For Everyone
Apprenticeships and work-based learning can be transformative , but only if we design systems that are clear, inspiring, and accessible. Too often, learners fall through the cracks. Employers struggle with complexity and great ideas never scale.
Why work with me?
I’m a senior leader in early careers and skills development, with over 25 years of experience designing and delivering high-impact talent strategies. Most recently, I led Apprenticeships and Skills at Amazon UK & Ireland, where I built and scaled their award-winning apprenticeship programs from the ground up, delivering over 7,000 opportunities across 50+ standards and launching one of the UK’s most successful levy transfer initiatives, supporting 1,000+ SMEs nationwide. Key outcomes under my leadership included:
Retail Apprenticeship of the Year 2024
London Regional Apprenticeship & Skills Employer
A move from 67th to 3rd in the DfE’s Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers (2022-25)
Multicultural Apprenticeship Employer of the Year
20%+ above national completion rate
I’m an active voice in UK skills policy- collaborating regularly with the Department for Education, contributing to government roundtables, Chair Tech Skills employer board, advisory role for Amazing Apprenticeships, and the Youth Futures Foundation.
What can I offer
Specialist in Early Careers, Workforce Development & Future Skills
Early Careers Program Design
Early Careers Program Design I work with organisations to build impactful early careers pipelines from scratch or enhance existing initiatives:
-
Apprenticeships (Pre and shorter schemes)
-
T-Level Industry Placements
-
Work Experience & Internship Programs
-
In-role Upskilling Pathways

Funding & Government Skills Support
Navigating the complex skills funding landscape:
-
Identify the right funding streams for your challenge
-
Align business goals with national skills initiatives
-
Strategic advice on using apprenticeships, bootcamps, and T-Levels effectively
Attraction, Outreach & Assessment
Attract and assess talent from all backgrounds:
-
Designing attraction campaigns & assessment journeys
-
Community outreach strategies to reach underserved talent pools
-
Inclusive recruitment funnel design
-
Connecting with organisations to buildfunnels

Collaboration & Sector Leadership
I facilitate sector-wide collaboration to tackle shared skills challenges:
-
Chair & establish trailblazer committees and skills groups
-
Run cross-sector roundtables and knowledge exchanges
-
Lead curriculum co-creation with education & employers
-
Speaking engagements and panel contributions
-
Bespoke training & workshops
-
Accredited in MBTI, NLP & Emotional Intelligence

Workforce Planning & Future Skills
Helping you bridge today’s workforce with tomorrow’s needs:
-
Skills gap analysis & workforce planning
-
Custom upskilling programs for in-role development
-
Barriers-to-entry diagnostics & program design
-
Future skills insight aligned to sector shifts
Education & Employer Engagement
I support education providers and training organisations to:
-
Engage employers in curriculum design
-
Create real-world learning & work placement opportunities
-
Build meaningful partnerships between industry & education
Company number: 16446861
VAT registered : 496 2265 59
© 2025 by Nicola Drury. Powered and secured by Wix