The Holt Review is Published

First published on Fri, September 07, 2012.

Creative & Cultural Skills welcomes publication of the Holt Review: Making Apprenticeships More Accessible to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, published on 29 August 2012.

Led by jeweller and entrepreneur Jason Holt, the report assesses how the apprenticeship system can be made more responsive to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and seeks to address the challenge of making apprenticeships with SMEs more appealing to young people. These are all factors which Creative & Cultural Skills recognises as posing considerable barriers to uptake in the creative sector, where 94% of businesses have fewer than ten staff.

On publication of his report, Mr Holt said: 'Whilst apprenticeships offer undoubted growth opportunities for businesses, not enough SMEs are taking advantage. This is because they have an outdated view of apprenticeships, are often in the dark, and frequently do not receive the specific training provision their apprentices need. My recommendations are intended to address these issues with Government, employers and providers all playing a part.'

Catherine Large, Joint CEO, Creative & Cultural Skills, said: 'Creative & Cultural Skills has been championing apprenticeships for a number of years, working closely with small business to place over 1,800 young people in to apprenticeships in the creative sector since 2008. In doing this, we have experienced firsthand the challenges faced by small businesses in the sector and have developed a discrete programme of support and guidelines which is of real benefit to both employers and apprentices in creative enterprises. However, more support is definitely needed, and we welcome Jason Holt's robust analysis, and the Government's response, and look forward to definitive action in support of this cause.'

The full report and the Government’s response to it can be found here.