Work-based training academies: How to build a sustainable talent pipeline

In every sector, employers are grappling with skills shortages across the UK, rapid technological change and increasing pressure to develop talent internally.

Our Employer Community webinar on work-based training academies, with panellists from Places for People and Veolia, explored how academies are helping organisations build stronger talent pipelines, close critical skills gaps and prepare their workforce for the future.If you’re short on time, we’ve summarised the key insights from the discussion in this article. You can also access the full webinar recording and slides.

Meet the panellists

Becky Edwards, Places for People (PfP)

Senior HR leader overseeing the development of PfP Thrive, which is a purpose-built skills centre addressing skills shortages in trades, construction and housing.

Rosie Brady, Veolia Water Technologies

Training Partner leading the training programmes at Veolia’s Life Science Centre of Excellence in Ireland.

Why skills development is critical to closing workforce skills gaps

Skills development directly addresses the mismatch between rapidly evolving job requirements and the skills that employees currently have. City & Guilds’ productivity report (2024), highlighted the state of the skills landscape:

• Employers across multiple sectors reported persistent skills shortages over the past five years.
• Many organisations lack sufficient internal capability to meet emerging needs, especially in green skills.
• Fewer than half of survey respondents felt they left education equipped with the skills required for their chosen career.
• Only around 60% of the workforce is considered ‘adequately skilled’ for current labour market demands.

This reinforces the need for continuous skills development throughout people’s careers, which is a challenge that workplace training academies are increasingly well placed to solve.

Why employers are investing in work-based training academies

Workplace training academies have become a crucial response to:

• Persistent skills shortages within different industries and sectors.
• Difficulty recruiting experienced talent.
• Rising regulatory and compliance requirements.
• The need for organisation-specific and sector-specific skills that might not be met by external providers.

Research by Places for People (PfP) showed that the UK is facing a one-million-person shortage in the trade workforce over the next ten years. Within PfP’s own workforce, they found that more than 20% of their tradespeople were over 55 and PfP had higher than average attrition due to high demand for their workforce’s skillsets in a competitive labour market.

As a direct result, the PfP Thrive skills centre was developed to: 

• Build future-focused talent pipelines.
• Create structured pathways into roles for new entrants.
• Support sector-wide upskilling.
• Prepare for green skills needs, such as EV and air-source heat pump installation.

Veolia were facing a different problem. Their service technicians work with niche water technologies in environments like hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. There is no external training provision available in these skills. So Veolia developed their own highly specialised training, ensuring that technicians have the necessary skills before they work with customers. Their Centre of Excellence enables consistent skills development and improved onboarding for technicians across Europe.

Lessons from Places for People and Veolia

• Build environments that reflect real-world conditions. For PfP Thrive, simulated homes and customer scenarios help learners build both technical skills and people skills, which are essential in housing roles.
• Collaboration strengthens results. Feedback and insights from over 200 housing associations shaped the thinking behind PfP Thrive, highlighting the benefits of cross-employer collaboration to close skills gaps.
• Use internal expertise wisely. Places for People and Veolia both upskilled long-serving employees to become trainers and assessors. Doing this strengthened their work-based training.
• Design for adaptability. With technologies evolving at a rapid rate, Veolia emphasised the need to constantly update technical content to stay current.

The role of apprenticeships for PfP Thrive

Apprenticeships underpin PfP’s workforce development plans and represent a core part of PfP Thrive’s offer. They enable PfP to grow their own talent and provide:

• Entry routines into technical roles.
• Clear progression pathways.
• A route to develop leadership skills.
• Improved retention.
• More diverse talent pipelines.

Key challenges when establishing a training academy

Establishing a workplace training academy is a powerful way to strengthen internal capability and close the skills gap. But it also comes with practical and operational challenges that employers need to plan for. Our panellists shared the realities of building an academy from the ground up. Some of the key considerations that employers should keep in mind include:

• Governance and compliance. Robust policies and quality assurance are essential for sustainable training and development strategies.
• Delivering across geographies. Employers may need to manage travel, accommodation, block release models and regional hubs, particularly for large UK and European workforces.
• Translation of content. For Veolia, supporting multi-language delivery was essential to ensure consistency across European teams.
• Releasing staff for training. Flipped learning and e-learning reduce operational disruption, balancing the needs of learners with the demands of busy day jobs.

Practical tips for large employer organisations

Several actionable recommendations emerged for organisations exploring similar models:

• Start with identifying skills gaps and design a workforce development plan that targets real business needs.
• Create interactive and immersive learning through simulation, hands-on practice and role-specific training.
• Blend online and in-person training to maximise accessibility across the company.
• Develop internal trainers to anchor capability and culture.
• Collaborate with your sector and industry experts to amplify impact.

How City & Guilds supported Places for People and Veolia

Places for People were looking for an experienced partner who could guide and advise them as they created their skills centre. As their partner of choice, we worked closely with PfP Thrive, sharing our expertise in construction and building services standards, curricula, assessment and provider readiness. Read PfP Thrive’s full customer story.

For Veolia, external validation and certification of their training was an important part of the vision for their academy. They wanted to give employees official recognition of the skills they developed, so they chose to get their training Assured by City & Guilds. Read Veolia’s full customer story.

Please note: The information above was correct as of January 2025 when the webinar was recorded.

Building workforce skills with City & Guilds

As the global skills partner of choice, City & Guilds provides end-to-end support across:

Assured – Training Validation and Quality Assurance

Demonstrate your commitment to L&D excellence and recognise employees’ achievements with branded digital credentials for your internally developed programmes.

Training Consultancy

Expert consultancy services to help you design, create, improve and measure the ROI of internally developed training.

Leadership Development

Empower your leaders and managers through consultancy, coaching, in-house training, qualifications and apprenticeships.

Skills Consultancy

Bespoke, high-quality workforce development and skills solutions. Whatever skills needs you have, talk to us about how we can support you.

Qualifications and Courses

Industry-leading qualifications and courses to help you upskill and reskill your workforce, with flexible in-house or provider-led delivery and expert support.

Apprenticeships

End-to-end apprenticeship support for employers, from programmes and EPA to consultancy services, including Levy optimisation and in-house delivery.

Funded Training and Support

Guidance on apprenticeship funding and other government funding schemes. Helping you navigate options and access funded skills training.