Millie Kendall OBE: I hope that the new government is able to look beyond a degree

I hope that the new government is able to look beyond a degree or qualification as the main signifier of successful employees and/or entrepreneurs. Those of us who didn’t go to university, or didn’t want to, continue to be a viable workforce for the future of the UK. Skilled and service-based jobs are still very often considered lesser, yet some of our most outstanding businesspeople have grown from these spaces. They have adapted and innovated, not always because of academic achievement. My industry is full of service providers who fuse creativity and STEM-based skills – such as biology, chemistry and geometry – in practical and essential applications. Let’s face it, hairdressing without geometry would mean we’d all have bowl cuts. I hope that future leaders will recognise the power of service-based careers for numerous professions, busting the stigma surrounding those who haven’t spent four years acquiring debt, once and for all.