{"id":47765,"date":"2026-02-17T07:26:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T07:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/uk\/?post_type=news&#038;p=47765"},"modified":"2026-02-23T14:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T14:21:09","slug":"inside-the-workroom-episode-2-apprenticeship-reforms","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/uk\/news\/inside-the-workroom-episode-2-apprenticeship-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"How 2026 Apprenticeship Funding Reforms Solve UK SME Skills Gaps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group eh-template-webinar-container has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-bottom:0\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns eh-template-webinar-container-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group content-wrapper has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--14)\">\n<p class=\"has-paragraph-2-m-font-size\">As Government initiatives continue to push apprenticeships up the agenda, many UK small businesses are looking for real solutions to the ongoing talent squeeze. The latest episode of <em>Inside the Workroom<\/em>, hosted by 91±¬ΑΟ\u2019s UK Managing Director, Kevin Fitzgerald, cuts through the noise to ask: How can apprenticeships help SMEs stay competitive?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-paragraph-2-m-font-size\">In conversation with Kelly Goddard, Operations Manager at apprenticeship specialist company, Academy Training, this episode explores that very question.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-paragraph-2-m-font-size\">Kevin and Kelly dive into how the UK Government\u2019s Growth and Skills Levy and Youth Guarantee works in practice, how these schemes build culture and retention, and why upskilling is the smartest move for SME workforce planning heading into 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-paragraph-2-m-font-size\"><strong>Watch the full conversation below and keep an eye out for upcoming episodes in the Inside the Workroom series, where we\u2019ll be speaking with people shaping the future of work inside real SMEs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The #1 Way to Beat the SME Skills Shortage | Inside the Workroom UK Ep 2\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/U_y_fyrmhws?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Driven by latest Apprenticeship Funding Reforms, Inside the Workroom explores how UK SMEs are leveraging upskilling to solve the persistent 2026 talent squeeze<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":454,"featured_media":47769,"template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"exclude_from_algolia":false,"author_id":70413,"reading_time":"1 min read","display_reading_time":false},"categories":[277],"tags":[],"post_features":[],"class_list":["post-47765","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47765"},{"taxonomy":"post_features","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/employmenthero.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_features?post=47765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}