Ufi Christmas message 2025

We also saw the deepening of our work with The King’s Trust, with whom we have launched a multi-year strategic partnership. This collaboration is focused on the opportunities that digital skills can unlock for young people who face barriers to employment, and the technology required to support this.

Our ongoing engagement with Independent Training Providers continues to grow, supported by our Strategic Partnership with AELP. At this year’s conference, we were proud to run two workshops focused on digital badging – helping providers take the practical steps needed to embed portable, verifiable micro-credentials into their provision. This is an area that continues to gather pace, and one I will return to later.

We have also celebrated new forms of partnership emerging directly from our own portfolio. Nationwide’s partnership with CAPSLOCK, delivering a dedicated cybersecurity training initiative for its Technology Development Programme, stands out as a model of employer-provider collaboration.

Taken together, these partnerships demonstrate more than collaboration – they show a sector in motion, building collective capacity and intentional alignment. They show a willingness to lead, not just to react. And they speak directly to the “why” behind everything Ufi does.

Last year, I spoke at length about digital badging and the future of micro-credentials. This year, our message is more about momentum than explanation.

The recommendations we put forward through the Digital Badging Commission – on quality assurance, portability, employer engagement, and learner value – have sparked meaningful sector-wide conversations.

There is a growing recognition that digital credentials are not a trend – they are a structural shift in how skills are recognised, communicated, and valued. And the sector has shown that it is ready to move, ready to experiment, and ready to collaborate.

At Ufi we have always been deliberate about demonstration through doing – and the recommendations and thinking behind the Digital Badging Commission are no different. We are developing our planning for practical deployment in ways that can support a better system for skills across the UK.

Our grant funding programmes have had another exceptionally strong year, demonstrating both the breadth of innovation in the VocTech space and the depth of need they continue to address.

Our VocTech Activate 2025 cohort includes projects such as We Are Blend and sAInaptic. We Are Blend is a microlearning platform designed for a modern, mobile-first, shift-based workforce – offering TikTok-style video training courses. The project showcases the power of early-stage support to turn bold ideas into practical solutions. sAInaptic is focussed on delivering AI-assisted formative feedback for image and video-based e-portfolio submissions. These teams, together with the wider cohort, are exploring new ways to deliver learning, improve access and support progression – each reflecting the creativity and commitment that characterises our community of innovators.

Through our VocTech Challenge, place-based programmes in Newport, Hull, Belfast and Aberdeen are progressing with enormous promise. Early reflections emerging from Hull, which we will share early in the New Year, highlight the potential for locally grounded, community-centred innovation to shape more inclusive and effective vocational learning ecosystems.

Projects funded through the Challenge Grant Fund, such as Flourish from the Institute for the Future of Work, show why taking time to understand barriers to employment really matters. Their research highlighted barriers to skills development and limited career pathways in Grimsby and Cornwall, caused by industrial decline and a lack of skills for modern jobs – especially in the growing green energy sector. As a result of their insights, early versions of their VocTech solution are already showing promising signs connecting new skills with new opportunities.

I am also delighted that this year we announced the new £6.75m fund (the WorkerTech Fund) supporting early-stage businesses focused on improving jobs, skills, and prospects for workers in low-paid and precarious employment. Delivered in partnership with a coalition of mission-aligned investors, Ufi were an early champion, working to support Resolution Foundation to develop this important part of the socially impactful investment landscape. This programme is another proud example of Ufi’s role in mobilising practical solutions to systemic challenges.

I should, of course, mention VocTech Activate 2026. Launching in January, our £900k grant fund is designed to help organisations test and scale new vocational learning ideas, opening the door for innovators to explore the full potential of vocational technology. 2026 will be the eleventh year that we have run this grant funding round, and I remain hugely proud of the work and organisations we have supported through it.

Ufi Ventures has also had a strong and forward-looking year, making investments that reinforce our ambition to support companies with the potential for commercial success and deep social impact.

Our investment into Gladys, supporting its £1.5m round to build one of the UK’s most trusted platforms for local adult social care, demonstrates how technology can be used to solve not only skills challenges but broader workforce and societal issues. We have also completed a recent investment into Certchain, helping build a secure, verifiable infrastructure for digital credentials across the construction sector – an important enabler for the transformation of how skills are recognised.

Together with ongoing support for our existing portfolio companies, Ufi Ventures continues to show the breadth of innovation – and impact – that is possible in this space.

The importance of investing in the sector and mission that we support cannot be over estimated. It is essential that organisations like Ufi help to grow the pipeline of high-potential start ups in the UK, start ups with the potential to achieve growth, success and life-changing impact.

This year has also given us many reasons to celebrate the achievements of those we support.

The Learning Technologies Awards once again showcased the strength of the VocTech ecosystem, with six Ufi-supported organisations shortlisted across multiple categories.

Among the winners, Chrome Angel Solutions secured the Silver Award for Best technology-based learning game helping UK rail workers build competence and confidence when identifying security threats. Springpod won the Bronze Award for Best learning technologies project – commercial sector. Their careers platform gives students the opportunity to experience the world of work and university before they apply.

I was delighted to head to the stage with the team as Ufi received the Bronze Award for Learning Technologies Organisation of the Year, reflecting our ongoing work to unlock opportunities for adult learners. A very proud moment and a chance to celebrate the collective efforts of our wonderful team.

We were proud to see Data Literacy Academy recognised through major partnerships – including their partnership with Grant Thornton – and shortlisted for several Learning Technologies Awards. Their progress is a reminder of the importance of data skills as a foundation for opportunity in today’s labour market.

Congratulations are also due to the Redbridge Institute of Adult Education, winners of the Learning with Technology Award at this year’s Get the Nation Learning Awards. Redbridge Institute has set a powerful example of how technology can transform the learner experience.

As we look to the year ahead, our 2026 Delivery Plan provides a renewed sense of purpose and clarity. While there will be much more to share in the coming months, I want to mention two key programmes of work:

1. The 2026 VocTech Challenge
   Featuring a support programme, open grant call and major collaborative projects, our £2.85m VocTech Challenge will accelerate the implementation and adoption of VocTech to tackle systemic barriers in the UK skills system. Details will be unveiled during the Week of VocTech in March, but what I can say now is that it will embody our commitment to practical action, collaborative leadership, and system-level change.

2. Supporting others to invest in skills
   I am very proud of Ufi’s approach to impact investing, focussed on aligning our investments with our mission. Through a significant new partnership with the Impact Investing Institute announced earlier this month, 2026 will see Ufi play an increasingly active role in supporting more organisations to explore impact investments and aligning their investment strategy with their charitable aims and mission objectives, promoting the triple benefits of investing into skills; learner development, return on investment and social impact. Details of the partnership programme will be shared in the New Year.

This year has shown what is possible when a sector comes together with a shared sense of mission. The progress we have seen – in partnerships, in policy discussions, in innovation, in investment, and in practice on the ground – has been made possible by people who believe in the power of VocTech to change lives.

I want to thank every Trustee, team member, organisation, educator, innovator, investor, and learner who has been part of this journey with us. Your energy, ambition, and collaboration are what make all of this work possible.

On behalf of everyone at Ufi VocTech Trust, I wish you a restful and joyful break and a hopeful start to the new year. We look forward to continuing this work together in 2026 – with renewed purpose, practical action, and a deep commitment to unlocking opportunity for all.”