As National Apprenticeship Week kicks off today (14 March), new research has found that 80 per cent of managers believe apprentices are vital to their organisation’s expansion plans.

A survey of 3,989 professionals by Morar on behalf of the Skills Funding Agency found that the majority of senior staff see apprentices as integral to growing a business.

The research flagged that managers hiring apprentices were five times more likely to believe the company would expand rapidly, than those who aren't.

Meanwhile, two thirds (61 per cent) of managers in growing firms felt that hiring the right staff or having employees with the right skills was the most important factor in realising the company’s ambitions.

National Apprenticeship Week launched today with an event at London’s Shard designed to encourage more businesses to take on apprentices.

In the physical activity sector, there is currently much focus on how the industry can increase both the scale and quality of its apprenticeship schemes. To that end, CIMSPA has been working with a range of leading employers to improve physical activity sector apprenticeship standards through the Trailblazer initiative.

Furthermore, the organisation has been encouraging operators to explore the potential of the

government’s new apprenticeship levy as they brace themselves for increased wage bills from the new National Living Wage, which comes into effect next month.

“Some forward-thinking operators are already reviewing their staff structures, working with CIMSPA to better qualify their workforces to prepare for the introduction of the National Living Wage and apprenticeship levy,” said CIMSPA CEO Tara Dillon recently. “I would strongly urge other operators to do the same.”