Video: Retail bosses highlight retail skills shortage

Kiddicare and Morrisons non-food online boss Scott Weavers-Wright and Asos chief executive Nick Robertson said there are particular skills shortages in IT and ecommerce. Robertson also said he has been unable to find a marketing director with the right approach for the online fashion behemoth.

Robertson said: “You need technology to drive everything, but the issue is finding that pool of talented people. Finding the right calibre of people is increasingly hard.”

He added it had become more difficult recently. “It’s all quite recent. In the last 12 to 18 months we’ve had to think outside the box,” he added

Weavers-Wright added: “There’s no doubt now as we go into more intense periods of work that we are finding a shortage.”

The Hut chairman Richard Pennycook said the problems exist because digital is such a new industry. He said: “Digital is very new and immature and traditional retailing has had 150 years of history to develop. Digital has had 15 years or so. We’re learning as we go.”

The panel said that finding and nurturing internal talent is the best way to approach the issue. Weavers-Wright said: “You can’t keep people if it’s not fun. To retain people if you’re not paying phenomenal wages it has to be fun and they have to part of things. They have to feel they’re contributing.”

Robertson added there are skills shortages across retail. He said: “Technology is only one part of it. There’s a whole raft of skills retailers need to embrace.”