< Previous East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk APPRENTICESHIPS I n the current reporting period from August 2022 to January 2023, government figures show that the overall number of apprenticeship starts experienced a decline of 4.1%, with a total of 195,600 compared to 203,990 in the previous year. Among these starts, individuals under the age of 19 accounted for 28.4% or 55,580, while advanced apprenticeships represented 43.3% (84,650) and higher apprenticeships made up 33.2% (64,890). Notably, higher apprenticeships have continued to grow, showing a 7.1% increase to 64,890 compared to the same period last year when it was 60,570. In terms of level, there was an 11.1% rise in starts at Level 6 and 7, reaching 30,710, which constitutes 15.7% of all reported starts for the current period. In the previous year, Level 6 and 7 starts accounted for 27,630 or 13.5% of starts during the same period. Despite the apparent downturn, it is important to understand those who may be affected by pulling apprenticeship funding. The uptake amongst young adults, and the higher level of the qualification (with a Level 6 being equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree, and a Level 7 being equivalent to a Master’s degree) appears to correlate with an attitude shift towards University amongst school leavers. Although more young people are heading to university than ever before, polls suggest that a third of 16 to 18 year olds would prefer to complete an apprenticeship instead. The rising cost of living has caused approximately 43% of undergraduate students to work whilst studying, something that many universities actively discourage. This has not gone unnoticed by prospective students, and many would prefer to learn in an environment which is specifically designed to strike a work/study balance. Making the most of apprentices Apprenticeships seem like the solution to the recruitment problem, but are employers seeing them less as investments for the future, and more as temporary workers available on lower pay? 22 Áwww.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link APPRENTICESHIPS © stock.adobe.com/Atelier 211 East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk APPRENTICESHIPS Furthermore, degrees no longer hold the competitive advantage of 15 years ago. With 35% of those of working age holding degrees, the certificate may get you an interview, but certainly won’t secure a job. With job security being a priority for a generation deeply affected by the uncertainty of the pandemic, the poorest school leavers often prefer to gain relevant industry experience, develop networks early in their career, and learn work skills that make them an attractive candidate. One industry which consistently benefits from apprenticeships is construction. Newly released figures indicate a positive trend in the construction industry, as the number of apprentices beginning their careers in this field has increased for the first time in six years. In the year leading up to July 2022, there were approximately 26,100 apprenticeships initiated, marking a notable rise of over 6,000 compared to the previous 12 months. Although this development is seen as encouraging, the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), highlighted the ongoing need for a significant influx of skilled workers in the industry. A report from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) emphasized that more than 40,000 individuals would need to join the sector annually over the next five years to meet the demand. The CECA has proposed initiatives which promote construction as an appealing and well-paid career choice, and have urged the UK Government to collaborate closely with the industry to address this issue. There remains a considerable gap between the number of newcomers and the required workforce in the industry, emphasizing that this gap will only widen as the aging workforce retires and sectors like retrofitting gain momentum. Berry also noted that there will be a rising demand for green skills as consumers seek to enhance energy efficiency in their homes to reduce energy bills. As for apprenticeship achievements, there was a significant increase of 21.8% to 62,030 compared to the previous year’s 50,920. However, it is important to note that COVID-19 restrictions and assessment flexibilities impacted the © stock.adobe.com/highwaystarzwww.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link APPRENTICESHIPS timing of achievements, making year-to- year comparisons cautious. The increase in achievements could once again be interpreted as a desire to gain desirable skills to retain employment, in the face of post-pandemic uncertainty. Despite a young, keen workforce with an appetite for career progression, concerns have been raised around the quality of apprenticeship delivery. In late 2022, it was reported that almost half of apprentices fail to complete their courses. According to a report by EDSK, a prominent education think tank, a significant number of individuals who quit their apprenticeships attributed their decision to poor quality from the employer, which encompassed issues such as inadequate training and ineffective management. Under government-funded apprenticeship programs, individuals are entitled to one day per week of “off the job” time dedicated to receiving teaching and training. However, the EDSK report revealed that many apprentices fall short of the minimum weekly requirement, while others receive no off-the-job training at all. Disturbingly, the report also highlighted a concerning practice where firms are permitted by the government to consider activities such as watching online lectures or completing homework assignments as training. This leaves apprentices with a lack of support and guidance, and many feel isolated during their training. Given that most people have decided on their career path by age 13, employers should be concerned about putting talent off pursuing careers within the industry altogether. For apprenticeships to survive, industry leaders must continue to identify, recruit, and retain talent. Sponsoring school projects and attending careers fairs will get companies noticed as a local employer. Using these opportunities to seek out talent, companies should then offer taster days to select students which promotes apprenticeship opportunities and career progression pathways within the industry. Providing intense support to a handful of the best candidates will allow companies to train and retain the best talent, and apprentices to feel supported to thrive. © stock.adobe.com/auremar East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk TAX James Pinchbeck, partner at Streets Chartered Accountants, helps you gain more value from your year-end. N ot to be confused with the tax year-end, which is 5 April each year, the year-end date for your business is specific to you. The largest proportions of businesses tend to opt for either a 31 December or 31 March year-end. Typically, most businesses, when it comes to their year-end, will focus primarily on finance and financial reporting, with directors, owners, and shareholders keen to know the financial outcome. Those charged with financial reporting will both be considering the preparation of financial statements as well as any potential financial year-end planning. This for many is often a task carried out hand in hand with their external accountants or auditors and tends to be a process which aims to: * Assess the level and treatment of potential profits. * Attempt to reduce the overall potential tax liability. * Review capital expenditure and maximise the use of tax allowances. * Consider tax efficient remuneration and pension contributions for directors/owners. * Consider bonuses for staff and directors (actual payment may be made up to 9 months after the year-end). * Consider the basis for profit extraction including dividend payments. * Review directors’ loan accounts and act on these as necessary. * Consider and influence the timings of transactions. Have you improved customer retention and advocacy? How has your sales or business development team performed? How has your marketing responded to business changes and opportunities as well as changes in marketing activities? Processes and practices Have you introduced changes or new business processes or practices? Have you made changes to products or services? Have you invested in digital process and practices? Have you addressed any headaches or long-term business issues? What is your business feel good factor? The points or questions raised are certainly not definitive or exhaustive. Each business no doubt will have its own aspects to consider which will more likely than not be dependent on the nature of the business, the market in which it operates and its own unique situation. Finally, perhaps the question all might ask themselves is how do we feel about the business today as opposed to 12 months ago? On the basis surely most would like to feel better about the business, being better will be dependent on who you are and what your role is within the business. As you start a new year it might be worth benchmarking your next 12 months against individuals’ thoughts on what will or could make the business better and even more successful. * Review and consider catching up with revenue expenditure (e.g. maintenance, mileage claims, etc.). Given this background it is perhaps highly understandable that less thought may be given to perhaps the equally important matters at the end of one business year and the start of the next. Seemingly more and more organisations seem to plough on year on year, with little or no time to consider or reflect on past activity and its impact on future performance. What might a business want to consider or look back on over the last 12 months and why? Amongst the points perhaps worthy of consideration are the following: People How have your team performed? Have you experienced labour and skills shortages? Have you had a challenge recruiting and retaining staff? Have you seen increased staff absences? Do your staff feel valued? Have you faced increased pay pressure? Have you looked to make changes and introduce new process or practices and how successful have they been? Customers Have you grown your customer base and sales in line with expectation? Have you entered new markets or developed new products or services? Have you improved your customer experience? East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk DESIGN AND MARKETING D esign refers to the early process of creating a visual and functional solution, whether through a physical object or an experience the customer has. Aesthetics, usability and functionality are all essential aspects of first creating and manufacturing a desirable product. From there, marketing takes the leap of promoting the finished item to its intended audience. This can be achieved through tactics such as strategic planning, market research, advertising, communication and customer engagement. Looking at design and marketing as two separate entities, these may seem like a lot of problems to solve at once. But there’s more that brings these two matters together than first meets the eye. With some key concerns under your belt, it’s easier to see how to approach them as one, tackling their shared challenges while mastering how they complement each other. One such convergence point is the need for effective communication and collaboration between marketing and design teams. Both need to understand each other’s goals, requirements and constraints to ensure alignment and produce cohesive results. If there’s a lack of clear communication, or a disconnect in understanding each other’s perspectives, the consequences can include restricted idea flow, inconsistent messaging in your brand identity, and a poor user experience as a result. But when everyone is working towards the same goal, a design can be properly geared towards its audience, with promotion visuals and strategies that work for a product in highlighting its most attractive features. To alleviate the negative consequences of poor communication, it’s crucial to establish open and collaborative conversations, promoting a culture of open dialogue and shared understanding between marketing and design teams. Regular meetings, shared project management tools and cross-functional team collaboration can help bridge gaps that might otherwise form in coordinating teams, keeping creativity and innovation flowing. The intersection of success Design and marketing, while serving different purposes, often come together to define the success of your business, along with the products or services it provides. 28 Áwww.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link DESIGN AND MARKETING © stock.adobe.com/alonesdj East Midlands Business Link www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk DESIGN AND MARKETING The lucidity of brand identity that springs from this level of teamwork will also see you on your way to building consistency and coherence. Developing a sense of flow and stability, with a recognisable image across multiple marketing channels, ensures that you and your products will be identifiable, laying the foundations for becoming a familiar name. Here too, it’s a must that both marketing and design teams work together to achieve alignment between visual and verbal or text elements, making sure they align with the brand’s identity and convey a consistent message. When inconsistencies or low coordination weaken brand recognition, challenges can arise in diluted marketing impact and lack of reach. Establishing clear brand guidelines to all involved in marketing and communication efforts ensures that everyone understands the brand’s mission, values, personality and target audience. When this vision is communicated clearly to everyone, desired messaging and all key brand attributes, right down to the appropriate tone of voice in marketing, can all be conveyed consistently with greater power for it. It’s also advisable to put together a brand style guide, as a comprehensive document outlining the guidelines and standards for all brand-related communication. Not only can this include specifications for logos, typography and imagery, as well as messaging and key brand phrases, but it can also make all of this information easy to provide to new and existing team members. With this ease, however, comes a new responsibility to regularly update your style guide. Allowing your image to stagnate – or only keeping certain staff looped in with changes – is likely to result in your brand falling behind or promoting mixed messages. To further prevent the risks from using outdated assets, or brand knowledge being irregularly disseminated amongst your staff, centralise materials like logos, approved imagery, templates and design files. Shared repositories or digital asset management systems are equally effective in managing and distributing these important facets of your image, ensuring that all teams have access to the latest approved versions of visual elements. On top of the more present concerns of realising and promoting a product clearly and effectively, both marketing and design are also influenced by changing trends, consumer preferences www.eastmidlandsbusinesslink.co.uk East Midlands Business Link DESIGN AND MARKETING and emerging technologies. Staying up to date with these changes and adapting to new design and marketing strategies can be a shared challenge of staying competitive in both areas, as keeping pace with evolving digital platforms, design tools and marketing techniques requires ongoing learning and collaboration between the two teams. Thankfully technology itself, with the advancement of AI, can step in to assist with staying abreast of these evolutions. AI-powered analytics tools can process vast amounts of data from various sources, including social media, surveys and market research reports. By analysing this data, they can identify emerging trends, consumer preference and shifts in the market, helping brands make informed decisions when developing design and marketing strategies. Intelligent algorithms can also examine customer data, such as behaviour patterns and preferences, translating it to personalised marketing messages and experiences. By leveraging machine learning, brands can deliver tailored content, product recommendations, and offers that align with individual consumer interests. This level of personalisation helps brands stay relevant and engage with customers effectively, create engaging content from blog posts to product descriptions, or even produce visuals and video content based on your audience, and how you would prefer products to appear and therefore appeal. AI-powered design tools can aid in a multitude of areas, from creating visually appealing and on-trend designs, to offering suggestions for marketable areas, or gauging public opinion. But it’s important to note that these tools are exactly that; devices which should be used to support marketing and design efforts, but not to replace human insight and judgment. Designers often strive for creativity and innovation, while marketers focus on achieving business objectives. But meeting inspiration with practicality is a stimulating source of tension between the two, that same friction often producing innovation by necessity. This balance of two perspectives brings the challenges of teamwork and coordination we’ve explored, as design ideas that are highly creative may not always align with marketing goals, budgets or timelines. But with the correct tools, and an approach of open communication and compromise, restrictions can make way for your best minds from both worlds to work together. © stock.adobe.com/SushimanNext >