Providing skills and expertise applicable to the workplace has always been a central component of universities' provision. However, repeated government initiatives to involve employers more actively in the skills system over the past 60 years have shown few lasting successes. In this paper, Professor David Phoenix reflects on past initiatives and makes recommendations for how employers can be incentivised to engage in more work-based education, while also proposing the introduction of a graduate levy to ensure that they make an equitable financial contribution to a system from which they directly benefit.