by Laura Paget 
Running a business right now is expensive. NI is up, wages keep rising, and every month something else takes a bite out of the bottom line. When margins tighten, development is usually the first thing to go. It feels like an easy cut - until you look at what it actually costs you.
Gallup’s 2025 research found that disengaged employees are costing the global economy $438 billion in lost productivity. And the CIPD’s Good Work Index 2025, a survey of over 5,000 UK employees, found that staff who see good prospects for development are more likely to perform better, recommend their employer, and go the extra mile. They’re also less likely to quit.
Only 39% of UK employees currently feel that they have good prospects for career advancement.” — CIPDs 2025 Good Work Index Report
This isn’t a small problem. That’s most of your workforce wondering whether there’s a future for them where they are.
So, before you cut the training budget, here are three ways to invest in your people, most of which won’t cost you a penny.
A – Apprenticeships
Most people think apprenticeships mean hiring a school leaver. They don’t. You can use them to upskill your existing team too, across everything from AI and data, to cyber security and network engineering.
If you’re not a Levy-paying employer, that’s not a barrier either. You can access up to 95% government funding towards the cost of the apprenticeship. Each programme runs for an average of 12 to 18 months, giving you a structured development pathway and a meaningful reason for your best people to stay.
Want an AI-literate team? There’s an apprenticeship for that. Want your IT infrastructure on the cloud? There’s one for that too.
B – Bootcamps
Skills Bootcamps are intensive programmes, typically around 12 weeks, funded by the governments Department for Education. They’re designed to get skills into your business fast.
They also work as a recruitment strategy or diversity initiative. Employers who take on a bootcamp graduate can offer a 12-month fixed term contract on completion – bringing in fresh talent from underrepresented groups whilst building the capability and skills needed.
C – Charity Partnerships
If neither of the above feels feasible right now, there’s a third option. You can share an apprentice with one of your charity partners – splitting the training, development, and off-the-job-learning responsibility between organisations.
It’s a flexible, lower-commitment way to access the same funded development pathway.
D – Don’t Cut Development
That’s the moral of the story.
The businesses that come out ahead won’t be the ones that trimmed their training budgets in 2026. They’ll be the ones that treated development as a long-term growth strategy – and gave their people a reason to stay, grow, and bring their best every day.
If you want to learn more, head over to novaturesolutions.co.uk
