Edge policy team met with Blair McDougall MP, Minister for Small Business, on March 4 2026. They discussed the pressures facing SMEs and the future of apprenticeships and skills policy. The conversation focused on the cost challenges facing small employers, particularly those considering whether to recruit apprentices. We explored how apprenticeships can be positioned not simply as a cost, but as a long-term investment in productivity, workforce resilience, and growth - a central message of Edge’s Apprenticeships Work campaign. Many SMEs who we polled for our Agents of Change report didn't know about the financial incentives around apprenticeships - the NICs waiver for under-25s and the £1,000 younger apprentices payment, for example.
We also discussed the importance of trusted local support, and clear signposting through the developing Business Growth Service. We talked about the need to ensure reforms to the Growth and Skills Levy and wider apprenticeship funding do not inadvertently disadvantage SMEs. Finally, we reflected on the growing political and economic importance of essential employability skills and the need to develop these through building closer relationships between SMEs and local schools and colleges This is central to the next step in our Apprenticeships Work campaign, Small Business Summer, led by Amazing Apprenticeships and supported by Edge.