Apprenticeship Week 2025

This week is National Apprenticeship Week 2025 (10-16 February). HSM has been committed to apprenticeship training for many years, and we have an extensive apprenticeship provision in place. 

National Apprenticeship Week is part of the Department for Education’s ongoing Skills for Life campaign, which engages young people, adult learners, and employers with government skills and training programmes.

This year marks the 18th annual celebration of apprenticeships and skills and the contributions they make to businesses and communities. Employers are asked to immerse themselves in National Apprenticeship Week 2025 by sharing the good work apprentices do.

Apprenticeships and skills programmes are a key element of the government’s aim of boosting opportunities for young people following the apprenticeship reforms that were announced in September.

We currently have four apprentices on-staff. Gracie Williams is doing the 18-month, Level 2 Business Administration Apprenticeship, Kai Rowlands is doing a Level 2 Engineering Operative Apprenticeship, Oliver Berry is an Engineering Technician doing the Machinist Advanced Manufacturing Apprenticeship, and Xavier Cook is a General Welder doing a Welding and Fabrication Apprenticeship.

Oliver said: “An apprenticeship is a fantastic learning opportunity. To make the most of it you need to be organised and to take the chance to learn as much as possible from the instructors, your learning and development coach and your employer.”

We work with PETA Training  and Chichester College to deliver our apprenticeship programmes. They assist us with the selection process and once an apprentice is in place, they coordinate the programme, delivering the required classroom-based training, alongside our mentoring work and on-the-job training, to get the apprentices successfully through their end point assessments.

Apprenticeship benefits

Apprenticeships are a great way to recruit and retain high-quality staff as it enables us to identify and select people who are keen to kick-start a career in sheet metal fabrication. Apprenticeship programmes allow us to provide an in-depth programme of training to our apprentices, equipping them with all the skills they need to build their careers, whilst providing us with great operatives.

Our apprentices benefit from in-depth, on the job training, a dedicated on-site mentor who will provide support, and off-site training which will lead to qualifications that will look great on their CV. Apprentices earn a wage from the day they start - promoting earning whilst learning - and upon completion of the programme apprentices will be confident and competent in their chosen discipline.

Growth and Skills Levy

The Apprenticeship Levy was initiated by the UK government in April 2017, and was relaunched in September 2024 as the new Growth and Skills Levy. This new Levy allows companies to use up to 50% of their levy contributions to fund training through routes other than apprenticeships, increasing the flexibility that employers have to fund training. 

Employers paying more than £3 million per year in wages are required to pay 0.5% of their payroll each month as a levy tax. This levy can then be used to invest in apprenticeship training for the workforce, or funds can be transferred (up to 50%) to other companies, so they can invest in apprenticeship training for their employees. If funds are not used within two years they are returned to the treasury.

Smaller organisations with an annual payroll bill of less than £3 million per year receive 95% of the cost of apprenticeship training from the government for employees aged 22+, and as of 1st April 2024, 100% of the cost for employees aged 16-21. There is currently no limit to the number of employees that an SME can upskill using apprenticeship funds.

Get in touch to enquire about apprenticeship opportunities with us - we’d love to hear from you.