Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales addresses 80 business leaders in first of its kind summit

The Princess of Wales addressed more than 80 of the UK’s most influential business leaders at The Future Workforce Summit hosted by The Royal Foundation Business Taskforce for Early Childhood today, Tuesday 18 November 2025.

The event focused on how, at a time of huge technological progress and change, businesses investing in the early years can play an important role in the next generation developing the uniquely human skills needed for the future workforce to thrive. The foundations for these skills are laid in early childhood.

This is part of The Princess of Wales’ work to inspire societal wide action to create a healthier, happier society transformed by our approach to early childhood.

Speaking at the event, Her Royal Highness said:

“Every one of you interacts with your own environment; a home, a family, a business, a workforce, a community. These are the ecosystems that you yourselves help to weave. Imagine a world where each of these environments were built on valuing time and tenderness just as much as productivity and success.

As business leaders you will face the daily challenge of finding the balance between profitability and having a positive impact. But the two are not, and should not be incompatible.

At The Centre for Early Childhood, we believe that we must do all we can to create the conditions for love to flourish. That is how we invest in our future.”

The Business Taskforce was established in March 2023 by The Princess of Wales to galvanise business action. In its first year, the Taskforce produced Prioritising early childhood for a happier, healthier society: How business can drive, and benefit from, transformative change in the UK, setting out the case for prioritising early childhood and identifying the five areas where businesses can have the biggest impact. The report detailed how investing in early childhood could generate at least £45.5 billion in value added for the national economy each year.

The event came as The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood released a new report called “The Human Advantage”. The report, which was prepared by Deloitte, has been published on The Centre for Early Childhood’s website.

It explores how, as AI increasingly handles technical tasks, competitive advantage will rely on human skills technology cannot replicate. It highlights survey findings which show that 81% of business leaders believe there will be an increased need for human skills in the next 5-10 years. However, when asked in interviews, very few business leaders identified the unique importance of early childhood in the development of these skills.

The Centre for Early Childhood will use the findings of the report to continue to engage with the business community and drive action and investment in the early years.

Find out more about the summit on the Business Taskforce website.