Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the UK economy, yet encouraging more of them to participate in apprenticeships remains a challenge.
While much of the conversation around apprenticeships focuses on funding, policy reform and skills shortages, there is another important matter to consider: how effectively are we reaching the businesses that could benefit from taking on apprentices in the first place?
For further education providers, building relationships with local employers is already a central part of their work. However, engaging smaller businesses presents itself with particular challenges. Many lack dedicated HR people or teams, operate with limited resources and have competing priorities that make planning for the longer-term workforce difficult.
From my experience working in B2B data and outbound marketing, I believe there’s an opportunity to apply much more targeted, commercially informed approaches to employer engagement, helping colleges and training providers connect with SMEs in ways that are relevant, timely and valuable.
The SME opportunity
According to the Department for Business and Trade’s Business Population Estimates 2025, SMEs accounted for 99.9% of UK private sector businesses and approximately three-fifths of private sector employment.
Their contribution to employment and economic activity makes them an essential part of any serious conversation about developing the UK’s future workforce.
Yet apprenticeship participation among smaller employers, remains a challenge. The Department for Education’s Apprenticeships Evaluation 2023: Employer Survey highlights differences in how employers of different sizes engage with apprenticeships, including the resources and support available to manage training.
It is important to recognise that smaller businesses are not simply scaled-down versions of larger organisations.
A company employing nine people will approach recruitment, training and investment very differently from a national business with a dedicated learning and development department.
For many SMEs, taking on an apprentice represents a significant commitment of time, money and management resource. Even where the long-term benefits are understood, immediate operational pressures can make participation difficult.
Understanding these realities should shape how the FE sector approaches employer engagement.
Understanding the business before making contact
One of the most important principles in effective B2B marketing is understanding your audience before attempting to engage them.
Businesses are inundated with communications, and generic approaches rarely demonstrate an understanding of their individual circumstances. The same principle applies when encouraging employers to consider apprenticeships.
A small engineering company experiencing growth may have very different workforce requirements from an independent hospitality business or a local digital agency.
Corporate data can help identify businesses by sector, size, location and other relevant characteristics. Combined with local market knowledge, it can provide FE engagement teams with a clearer picture of where potential opportunities exist.
For example, a business opening new premises or expanding its workforce may be worth approaching about future skills requirements. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s ready to recruit an apprentice. However, it creates a relevant starting point for a conversation.
The objective shouldn’t be to contact the greatest possible number of employers. It should be to identify businesses where a partnership could deliver genuine mutual value.
Making apprenticeships commercially relevant
Another important consideration is how apprenticeship opportunities are communicated.
Businesses are predominantly concerned with the practicalities of running and growing their operations. Recruitment, productivity, employee retention and future skills requirements are all commercial priorities.
Apprenticeships should therefore be discussed in the context of these challenges.
Rather than leading with programme structures or funding terminology, engagement teams can explain how apprenticeships might help employers develop talent, address skills shortages and plan for future growth.
This is especially important for SMEs, where business owners are often directly responsible for recruitment decisions.
They need straightforward information about the potential benefits, the costs involved, the time commitment and the support available.
Clear communication won’t necessarily remove the operational challenges of employing an apprentice, but it can make the decision considerably easier to evaluate.
Why local relationships matter
For many SMEs, business relationships are built on trust, reputation and local knowledge.
FE colleges are well placed to develop these connections because they understand their communities, regional industries and local employment challenges.
Research from EngineeringUK, Connecting SMEs and Young People, identified limited time, resources and knowledge of engagement opportunities as barriers preventing smaller engineering businesses from connecting with education providers.
Although the research focused on engagement with young people rather than apprenticeship recruitment specifically, its findings reflect the practical difficulties smaller employers can face when establishing education partnerships.
This is where local business networks, chambers of commerce and targeted employer outreach can make a difference.
Rather than relying exclusively on established employer contacts, providers can identify businesses that may not previously have considered apprenticeships and begin developing relationships with them.
A coordinated approach also helps avoid businesses receiving disconnected communications from multiple organisations offering similar opportunities.
Better data leads to better conversations
Technology and AI are creating opportunities to make employer engagement more efficient, but their effectiveness depends on the quality of the information being used.
Accurate corporate data can help identify relevant businesses and decision makers, while intelligent segmentation and targeting allows communications to reflect sector-specific challenges.
However, it’s important that data is used responsibly. Having access to business contact information doesn’t automatically make every communication relevant or even appropriate.
Successful outbound engagement requires accurate information, clear messaging and an understanding of the recipient’s circumstances.
For FE providers, the opportunity is to combine technology with existing employer engagement expertise, making it easier to prioritise meaningful conversations and maintain relationships over time.
Turning engagement into long-term partnerships
The Department for Work and Pensions’ Employer Survey 2024 found that 24% of SMEs surveyed had recruited through apprenticeships, compared with 74% of large employers.
The same research found that employers unlikely to engage with apprenticeships frequently cited a lack of recruitment requirements, insufficient work or concerns about suitability.
This is an important distinction. Not every business that declines an apprenticeship opportunity is unaware of its benefits. Some simply do not have an immediate requirement.
Effective engagement therefore requires patience, consistency and a longer-term approach.
An SME that is not recruiting today may be expanding in six months. Maintaining appropriate contact, understanding its plans and offering relevant support can help turn an initial conversation into a productive partnership.
If we want apprenticeships to play a greater role in addressing skills shortages, SMEs must remain central to the conversation. The opportunity for FE is not simply to reach more businesses, but to understand them better.
By combining local relationships, accurate employer intelligence and commercially relevant communication, colleges and training providers can create stronger connections with the businesses that help drive regional economies.
Ultimately, apprenticeship growth depends not only on the opportunities education providers can offer, but on their ability to connect those opportunities with genuine business needs.
By Adam Herbert, CEO & CO-Founder, Go Live Data