Remove the burden of bureaucracy if you want to see apprenticeships thrive - David Jackson

I would suggest it is because there are too many obstacles in the way. The National Apprenticeship Service was launched in 2008/9 to drive growth in the number of employers offering apprenticeships. But for smaller companies, the government’s approach has only brought about an increase in paperwork, a sizable distraction for people used to running their own businesses and a reason not to hire an apprentice. The Apprenticeship Levy, launched in 2017/18, hasn’t fared well either with more than £2bn of training money reportedly returned to the black hole of Treasury coffers.

It is easy to sit around and complain, but my motto is ‘Action this Day’ and that’s why we launched our own scheme to create meaningful opportunities for young people in Bridlington and neighbouring Scarborough, seaside towns on the Yorkshire coast that contain more than their fair share of social and economic challenges.

In contrast to the National Apprenticeship Service, our sponsorship programme is simple and operates with minimum fuss: we give a headed letter to a teenager to present to a potential employer, stating that Hudson Contract will pay £50 per week for the first year of training.

The only tick-box is for the local college to confirm the apprentice’s ongoing attendance and that’s it.

We do it because we want to put something back into our local community and we believe in giving young people a leg-up, not a handout. The light-touch approach has proved a great success and could be easily adopted by other successful companies in their own areas across the UK. Many so-called left-behind communities could benefit. Since launch in 2011, we have sponsored 225 apprentices and this year we expect to reach the milestone of 250. Many have since gone on to set up their own businesses.

Serving an apprenticeship provides the most solid of starts for a career as an entrepreneur, especially in the construction industry. Young men, and women too, learn a trade at the knee of an old-hand and embark into the world with a valuable skill that will serve them well. Many of the 2,600 construction firms in our client base started out with self-employed tradespeople founding their companies at the kitchen table and growing from there.

I doubt the National Apprenticeship Service and the apathy it engenders is the right way to support them. It would be far better if more businesses could get on with it themselves without the burden of bureaucracy, as we have done.

David Jackson is the founder and chairman of Hudson Contract, a provider of professional services to the UK construction industry.