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Working with professionals across the industry ensures the High-end TV Skills Fund is able to provide training where it’s needed most
For more than a decade, the HETV Skills Fund has been working with industry to identify and invest in areas across the sector where it can help develop a diverse, skilled and job-ready workforce to support tax incentive-benefiting productions throughout the UK and beyond. These decisions are guided by industry professionals working across high-end TV, utilising the latest research to determine where investment impact would be most keenly felt.
Thanks to this close relationship with industry, the Fund listens, responds and invests according to the needs of the UK production landscape. This is made possible through 12 Working Groups comprised of industry leaders able to pinpoint the areas of skills shortages, and the most effective use of the industry-collected funds.
This extends to grade-specific concerns, as well as the nuanced needs of freelancers in the nations and regions, with dedicated groups providing a direct line to production team needs across the UK. As the members of the Working Groups are at the sharp end of HETV content making, they can see the direct impact of the Fund’s investments on the UK workforce.
Kaye Elliott, ScreenSkills Director of High-end Television, says: “Our engaged and supportive relationship with industry helps us ensure the Skills Fund responds to immediate and future skills needs, and supports the continued growth of the UK workforce. The Fund relies on this expertise, in conjunction with informed research, to guide investment and develop effective training that provides the tools needed for those working at every level within HETV.”
“The unique way in which the Fund uses working groups sourced from a broad cross-section of the industry means that we on the ground are able to inform and very quickly react to current market forces”
Jo Evans, head of production, Buccaneer Media; Production Grades Working Group
Through annual research, the Working Groups are able to assess the effectiveness of the Fund’s investments and their positive impact on freelancers across the industry. The latest annual HETV workforce research was published in March and will now go towards informing the Fund’s 2025/26 investments.
Jo Evans, Head of Production at Buccaneer Media and Chair of the Production Grades Working Group, says: “The unique way in which the Fund uses working groups sourced from a broad cross-section of the industry means that we on the ground are able to inform and very quickly react to current market forces. It enables us to develop training for key areas where there are skills gaps, and offer a range of courses covering entry level to career development and senior management, to help arm individuals with the right skills and experience.”
By working together through the Fund, the Working Groups are able to collaborate to deliver training programmes that help improve working practices and install safe, accessible and open spaces for those working at every level of the industry. The Fund’s job-share placement initiative was born out of the Craft and Tech Working Group three years ago and is now available to all teams working on HETV content.
The programme champions greater flexibility for individuals to return and be retained in the workforce, and demonstrates the long-term impact the Working Groups industry collaboration can have on changing the working landscape for the better.
Investment in improving the workplace environment was underlined by the Fund’s Encouraging Good Work Practices initiative, co-funded by the Craft and Tech and Production Grades Working Groups, alongside further partnership investment from the Film Skills Fund. The programme will provide the tools for productions to champion good work practices, the benefits of installing healthy work/life balance policies and developing personal and team resilience, as well as focusing on supporting overall well-being and developing trust and effective communication.
The knowledge and passion of the Working Group members, paired with the open and honest feedback delivered through research, has been instrumental for the Fund’s ability to deliver tailored opportunities that help grow a world-class workforce fit to meet evolving production requirements.
