National Apprenticeship Week: How Apprenticeships Drive Business Success

Apprentice smiling at work

How Apprenticeships Help Employers Close Skills Gaps and Grow Their Workforce

From 9th–15th February, National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) shines a spotlight on how apprenticeships support businesses to grow, adapt, and invest in their people.

This year’s focus on The People feels particularly relevant for employers navigating:

• Ongoing skills shortages

• Rising recruitment and retention costs

• The need to upskill teams without disrupting day-to-day operations

  
  

Apprenticeships are no longer just an early-careers initiative; for employers, they've become a practical workforce strategy - one that builds capability, strengthens retention, and supports long-term growth.

Why More Employers Are Turning to Apprenticeships

Across the UK, employers continue to report skills gaps that limit productivity and slow growth. At the same time, recruiting experienced talent has become expensive, more competitive, and less predictable.

Apprenticeships offer an alternative. Developing the skills your business actually needs, within your organisation, aligned to your roles, processes, and culture.

Research consistently shows that apprenticeships:

• Improve workforce motivation and engagement

• Support retention by offering clear development pathways

• Enable people to contribute meaningfully while they learn

In short, apprenticeships give employers greater control over their skills pipeline, reducing reliance on external hiring and supporting more sustainable workforce planning.

Building Skills While Driving Real Business Value

One of the biggest misconceptions about apprenticeships is that value only comes at the end.

In reality, apprentices contribute from day one.

At Everything Apprenticeships, we design programs so learning is directly applied to real work. We take the core apprenticeship standard and tailor the structure, modules, and delivery around your business priorities.

For example, a Sales Executive apprentice might identify a specific sales activity they want to implement or improve for their employer. Over the course of the apprenticeship, the training is tailored around this, so that the learner can apply learning to a real project that will deliver measurable improvements to their employer from day one. This builds confidence and capability.

This approach means apprenticeships don't sit alongside the job - they support it.

Employers benefit from fresh thinking, additional capacity, and practical improvements, while apprentices develop skills that genuinely matter in your organisation.

What Employers Gain From Well-Designed Apprenticeships

When apprenticeships are delivered well, the benefits extend beyond skills development:

• Reduced recruitment pressure: Developing people internally creates stronger succession pipelines

• Stronger retention: Meaningful development increases loyalty and engagement

• Immediate contribution: Learning is applied to real tasks and projects, not theoretical exercises

Apprenticeships can also address very specific challenges, whether that’s building leadership capability, strengthening operational effectiveness, or developing sector-specific expertise.

Our focus at Everything Apprenticeships is ensuring every programme delivers measurable business impact, not just qualification outcomes.

What National Apprenticeship Week Means for Employers

National Apprenticeship Week isn’t just a celebration. It’s a chance to step back and look at workforce strategy.

For employers, NAW provides an opportunity to:

• See how apprentices contribute to real business outcomes

• Explore how apprenticeships can address current skills gaps

• Consider long-term investment in people and capability

It’s also a moment to hear directly from apprentices, tutors, and employers about what works, and why.

So when you're reading posts online during National Apprenticeship Week, look for those from training providers that talk about:

• The importance of tracking apprentice progress week by week

• Spotting early warning signs of disengagement is vital

• The significance of tailoring support for individual apprentices

• How consistency and quality are delivered across teams

• The link between learner experience and achievement

How Everything Apprenticeships Is Supporting Employers During NAW

Throughout National Apprenticeship Week, Everything Apprenticeships will be sharing insights to help employers understand how apprenticeships work in practice.

We’ll be posting:

• Answers to common questions employers ask about apprenticeships

• Insights from our tutors on tailoring programmes to business needs

• Reflections from apprentices applying their learning in real workplaces

  
  

Our aim is simple: to help employers see apprenticeships not as a risk or an add-on, but as a practical, people-centred way to grow skills and strengthen teams.

A Final Point Worth Knowing: Financial Support for Employers

Alongside the skills and workforce benefits, apprenticeships also come with practical financial incentives for employers.

These include:

• No employer National Insurance contributions for apprentices under 25

• Additional incentive payments for employers taking on apprentices who meet specific eligibility criteria

These incentives are designed to reduce the cost of investing in skills and make apprenticeships an even more attractive option for workforce development.

The details can change, and eligibility depends on factors like age, program, and start date, which is why it’s not always obvious what applies to your business.

That’s where we can help.

At Everything Apprenticeships, we support employers to:

• Understand what funding and incentives are available

• Apply them correctly and confidently

• Design apprenticeship programmes that deliver real business value alongside financial benefit

If you’re curious about how apprenticeships could support your workforce, and what financial support may be available, come and speak to us. We’re always happy to talk through the options and help you decide what makes sense for your business.

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Talk to our experts

If you're curious about how apprenticeships could work for your business, our team is always happy to talk.

Call us on: 0330 133 0540

Email us: hello@everythingapprenticeships.com