An MP-led inquiry is warning that Britain is suffering from a shortage of salespeople and of sales expertise. Much more needs to be done to recruit and train people with strong business-to-business selling skills, to drive the economy out of the recession caused by the Covid-19 crisis, and to find new global trading opportunities outside the EU.
The findings of the inquiry are being published on Tuesday by MPs on the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Professional Sales.
Mark Pawsey MP, the chair of the all-party group, is launching the report – Supercharging Sales: Investing in B2B selling for jobs and growth – from 13:30 – 14:00 on Tuesday 9 March, with contributions from inquiry witnesses. The event will be shown live on the APPG’s Facebook page.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on business. It has accelerated the digital revolution in how we trade, but exposed an acute skills shortage in professional business-to-business selling. Action now will equip the UK to do business across the world as an independent trading nation, boosting our future productivity and prosperity.
Speaking in June 2020, the Prime Minister set out his vision for the UK as an economic powerhouse which depends on our ability to sell the best of British.
Boris Johnson MP said: “We need now a new dynamic commercial spirit to make the most of UK breakthroughs, so that British ideas produce new British industries and British jobs.”
This “new dynamic commercial spirit” depends on the UK?s ability to sell.
About the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Professional Sales
The APPG for Professional Sales was set up to:
Improve recognition by parliament and industry of the importance of sales and its impact on the UK economy
Promote and advance sales as a profession
Boost the success of British industry, especially in international trade
The cross-party group is supported by the Association of Professional Sales which provides its secretariat and research. The group was founded by APS fellow Stephen Kerr in 2018, when he was MP for Stirling. The APPG is now led by Mark Pawsey, the MP for Rugby, who also sits on the influential Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee – a select committee of the House of Commons.
About the APS
The Association of Professional Sales is the leading authority for salespeople, a not-for-profit organisation, reinvesting in the sales profession to build standards, trust and education. The APS is engaged with MPs to promote
professional selling across UK businesses and has worked with the government and business leaders to establish sales apprenticeships up to degree and master’s level. The Association is campaigning for a Royal Charter to give skilled, ethical salespeople
the same status as other professions like accountants, lawyers, architects and surveyors. Expert, ethical, professional salespeople are crucial for business success.