Apprenticeships Work

Amazing Apprenticeships are proud to support a brand-new campaign to boost small businesses to take on more apprentices, because Apprenticeships Work!

Led by the Edge Foundation and supported by organisations and partners throughout England, the Apprenticeships Work campaign has one simple goal: to encourage more small businesses to take on apprentices.

SMEs are the backbone of our economy but can often struggle to engage with the apprenticeship system. They represent 99.8% of businesses and 60% of total employment in the UK, but only employ 37% of apprentices – that’s a 17% fall since the Apprenticeship Levy was introduced. We want to change that.

Anna Morrison, CBE and founder of Amazing Apprenticeships adds:

“As a small business ourselves, we have seen the hugely positive effect of apprentices within our workforce. However, the apprenticeship system can feel complex for small businesses to navigate, with many government processes and procedures that seem overly bureaucratic. Alongside this, it’s a challenging time for small businesses, with uncertainty in the economy, immense skills challenges and increasing costs of running a business that limit growth and opportunity. We’re seeing an increasing number of young people who want to find opportunities in their local area, but the number of vacancies are in decline. We are supporting this campaign to hopefully bring about a change of direction, and to help more small businesses to engage (or re-engage) with apprenticeships”.

The campaign calls on the Government to expand support services for SMEs to help them understand their skills needs and navigate the apprenticeship system. This ties into Edge’s broader mission to expand apprenticeship opportunities for young people.

Alice Gardner, CEO of Edge Foundation, said:

“Expanding opportunities for young people through high-quality routes like apprenticeships has been at the heart of Edge’s mission for over twenty years. Young people are eager for these opportunities, and small businesses want to invest in fresh talent – but the system too often gets in the way. Apprenticeships Work is about changing that: creating the conditions where everyone benefits – more opportunities for young people, stronger growth for small businesses, and a real boost for our economy.”

To find out more about the Apprenticeships Work campaign, and to get involved, please visit www.edge.co.uk/apprenticeships-work

Chaos to Coordination

Agents of Change