Jason is chair of
Holts Group consisting of jewellery, education and technology businesses. The golden thread between all of them is the value of growing its people and training others.
From an early age, Jason learned the value of training. Learning to do a job properly was at the heart of the Holt family ethos and a value his father Robert, in particular, held dear. The importance of training and developing people is why Holts has been a pioneer in training. Whether it’s the first and only apprenticeship jewellery school for the UK trade, in the form of Holts Academy (now the British Academy of Jewellery) set up to ensure the longevity of craftsmanship and skills for the industry, or more latterly helping the government develop its apprenticeship programme across all occupations (
the Holt Review) – helping people fulfil their potential is the golden thread which ties it together.
Jason holds the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion and is a Freeman and Liveryman of the City of London and The Goldsmiths Company. He is also a Fellow of City & Guilds London Institute and Institute for Further Education. In January 2015, Jason was awarded a CBE for his services to the jewellery sector and apprenticeships.
Following his authorship of the Government Review on ‘Making Apprenticeships More Accessible to SME’s’ in 2012, Jason has gone on to become a trusted advisor to successive ministers with responsibility for apprenticeships and skills. Having chaired a number of Government Boards to support the Government during its apprenticeship reforms, including the Apprenticeship Stakeholder Board and Ambassador Network, Jason subsequently co-founded the Association of Apprentices, an umbrella organisation to support, connect and empower the 1m apprentices in the UK.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-holt-cbe-b589751/