Royal Mail has urged small and medium-sized businesses to apply for its £1 million apprenticeship levy fund during National Apprenticeship Week (9–15 February), as it steps up efforts to help address skills shortages across the SME sector.
Applications are open for the second round of the fund, which is available to businesses with up to 250 employees that sell products online. The funding can be used for any government-accredited apprenticeship, spanning areas from industry-specific roles to digital marketing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence and finance.
The initiative forms part of Royal Mail Means Business, a wider campaign designed to champion SMEs and support their growth. The second £1 million funding round was launched in September following the success of the first, which was introduced after joint research by Royal Mail and the British Chambers of Commerce identified skills gaps as one of the biggest barriers facing growing businesses.
To date, Royal Mail has supported apprenticeships across a wide range of disciplines, including marketing, HR, software development and data analytics.
Under current rules, companies with an annual wage bill of £3 million or more are required to pay the apprenticeship levy. As one of the UK’s largest levy-paying employers, Royal Mail has chosen to gift a portion of its levy to smaller firms, reflecting what it describes as its unique role in supporting businesses nationwide. As the UK’s universal service provider, Royal Mail delivers to all 32 million addresses across the country.
Applications for the latest funding round are now open via the Royal Mail Small Business Hub.
Kieran Judd, interim chief people officer at Royal Mail, said National Apprenticeship Week was an ideal moment to remind SMEs of the support available. “Apprenticeships don’t just train individuals; they strengthen entire businesses by developing talent from within,” he said.
“We know many smaller businesses want to invest in new skills but lack the resources to do so. By gifting part of our levy, we’re helping to close that gap and give SMEs access to the same high-quality training opportunities as larger organisations. We’re proud to support the growth of the UK’s SME community.”
One company already benefiting from the scheme is Withnell Sensors, a Lancashire-based specialist in temperature and humidity solutions, including vaccine fridges and ultra-low freezers. The business has received funding for a Level 3 laboratory technician apprenticeship.
Samantha Smith, managing director at Withnell Sensors, said apprenticeships provided a vital route into the business. “It’s rare that we can recruit employees with directly relevant experience, so the apprenticeship scheme allows us to combine in-house training with formally recognised qualifications,” she said.
“This has added capacity to our team, helping us maintain turnaround times for customers while enabling senior staff to focus on expanding our accreditation and serving customers in new international markets.”