UKHospitality has written to the Skills Minister calling for a 24-month guarantee on existing hospitality apprenticeship standards, warning that any reduction would undermine both the sector’s workforce pipeline and the government’s own employment objectives.
The trade body’s letter to Baroness Smith of Malvern comes amid an ongoing review by the Department for Work and Pensions that has raised concerns across the industry about potential consolidation of approved apprenticeship qualifications.
Allen Simpson, Chief Executive of UKHospitality, argued that hospitality already operates with a relatively small number of apprenticeship standards compared with other industries, and that these are comparatively low cost. Any further reduction, he warned, would have a disproportionate impact on the sector’s ability to recruit, train and progress staff.
The intervention reflects broader anxieties about the government’s skills policy direction. UKHospitality expressed concern that an increasing focus on industrial strategy sectors – at the expense of what the Chancellor has termed the “everyday economy” – risks creating a two-tier system where opportunities are determined by educational attainment or social background.
Hospitality remains one of the UK’s largest users of apprenticeships. The sector supports approximately 2.7 million jobs, representing around 7.3 per cent of the national workforce. For many workers, particularly young people without higher academic qualifications, apprenticeships provide a structured pathway from entry-level roles to management positions.
The stakes are considerable. Industry data shows that loyalty-driven apprenticeship programmes have contributed to improved retention rates, with hospitality turnover declining from approximately 75 per cent to around 67 per cent over the past year. Employers including Greene King, which has pledged to support 20,000 apprentices by 2025, have invested heavily in these training structures.
Simpson’s letter emphasised the meritocratic value of current standards. Hospitality apprenticeships allow individuals to progress to senior roles regardless of their formal educational background, he noted. Cutting off these development opportunities would directly contradict government objectives to reduce economic inactivity and support young people into work.
The timing is politically sensitive. Earlier this year, the government announced £725 million in apprenticeship reforms, including full funding for under-25 apprentices at small and medium-sized enterprises and new foundation apprenticeships in sectors including hospitality and retail. These measures were broadly welcomed by the industry.
However, the broader review of apprenticeship standards has created uncertainty. UKHospitality is seeking assurances that the sector’s existing qualifications will be protected for at least two years, providing time for collaborative discussions about the optimal skills framework for the future.
The request comes against a backdrop of significant workforce challenges. The sector lost 59,000 employees in the year to autumn 2025, according to Office for National Statistics data. Payroll employment has stabilised in recent months, with numbers rising from 2.09 million in August to 2.11 million in September, but the industry remains approximately 170,000 workers below pre-Budget levels.
Rising costs compound the recruitment difficulties. Wages in hospitality rose 16.6 per cent year-on-year according to recent industry data, reflecting both cost-of-living pressures and competition for workers. For many operators, the apprenticeship system offers a cost-effective route to developing skilled staff while providing young people with genuine career progression.
UKHospitality recently launched a Graduate Apprenticeship scheme with HIT Training, offering a fully funded pathway from Level 3 supervisory qualifications through to Level 7 senior leadership and Chartered Manager status. Such programmes depend on the stability of underlying apprenticeship standards.
The trade body’s position reflects a calculation that hospitality’s workforce challenges cannot be solved without protected training pathways. With vacancies remaining elevated and the sector accounting for a disproportionate share of national job losses, any erosion of the apprenticeship infrastructure would make recovery harder.
For hospitality leaders, the message is clear: workforce development requires policy certainty. Whether the government provides the requested 24-month guarantee will signal its commitment to the everyday economy sectors that employ millions but lack the industrial strategy designation of manufacturing or technology.
