Sir Martin Sorrell named a British Council ‘Leading Light’ to encourage students to get experience in China
The British Council’s Generation UK: China Network has named WPP founder and chief executive sir Martin Sorrell as a ‘Leading Light’, charged with the task of advocating UK students to travel to China to gain experience while studying.
Sorrell appointed a leading light by British Council
China is WPP’s third biggest market and the company employs over 14,000 people in China. In a post on LinkedIn, Sorrell said that international experience was becoming essential due to the digitisation of the world.
“In a world becoming smaller every day through globalisation and digital connectivity, we need people who can demonstrate they have what it takes to succeed in this environment. Increasingly, employers are looking for knowledge of markets beyond the West, an international outlook and the willingness to be mobile,” he said.
He named three reasons why international experience was essential for WPP’s future workforce: knowledge of new markets, global mindset and mobility.
The aim of the scheme, part of the wider Generation UK - China programme, is to get 80,000 students to have studied in China by 2020
Ms Carma Elliot, director of British Council China, said: “It’s exciting to see the number of UK students coming to China increasing so rapidly over the past years, with nearly 8,000 UK students studying or undertaking internships in China in 2015, an increase of 40 per cent since the start of the Generation UK campaign. I first came to China in 1984, and that experience has shaped my career opportunities ever since. I would like to thank Sir Martin for joining us in the Network and supporting more young people to realise the benefits of experience abroad”.