For many businesses, the Apprenticeship Levy still feels like a tax rather than an opportunity. Paid automatically through PAYE if the business has a payroll of over £3m, it can easily sit in the background until funds begin to expire and quietly return to the Treasury.
With the Government now confirming that levy funds will expire after 12 months rather than 24, the pressure on employers to act has increased significantly.
Yet across Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes, there is a growing shift in mindset. Forward-thinking employers are no longer asking ‘How do we avoid losing the levy?’ but instead ‘How do we use it to strengthen our workforce and our local economy?’
The levy can be used not only for new apprenticeship starts, but also to upskill existing employees from team leaders and supervisors through to senior management and technical specialists. For many organisations, this has unlocked structured training and development that simply wouldn’t have been funded otherwise.
However, even with strong internal plans, many levy-paying employers find they cannot realistically use all their funds before expiry. This is where levy transfers become a powerful tool.
Turning unused levy into local impact
Levy-paying employers can transfer up to 50% of their annual levy to other organisations, fully funding apprenticeship training and assessment costs. These transfers can be targeted and purposeful. Employers can specify how they want their unused levy to be used, whether that’s:
- Supporting businesses in Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes
- Prioritising charities or community organisations
- Focusing on young people, career changers, or specific age groups
- Supporting particular sectors or apprenticeship standards
This ensures levy funding delivers real, visible impact rather than disappearing back into central government.
At The Right Track, we have supported employers to use levy transfers strategically and locally. Most recently, we worked with Chris Wright of ACS Staffing Solutions, successfully transferring over £20,000 of unused levy funding to support businesses across Northamptonshire.
This funding is now being used to develop skills locally, strengthen small businesses, and create sustainable employment pathways.
In another example, Michaela Coxon from Festo secured an additional £10,000 in levy funding to support team leader training through the apprenticeship route ensuring vital leadership development was fully funded rather than postponed.
Michaela said: “After attending an East Midlands Early Careers Meet-Up hosted by Helen, I picked up something I genuinely didn’t know, that levy-paying companies can also access unused local levy funds. I had always assumed this was only available to non-levy employers. I followed the guidance shared at the session and was successful in securing £10,000 in transferred levy funding for Team Leader training. This is now helping us upskill existing staff, which is a fantastic outcome. The meet-up was well worth attending.”
These examples demonstrate that levy fundingis not just for large employers. When used well, it becomes a shared resource that benefits the wider business community.
With tighter expiry rules now in place, the Apprenticeship Levy is no longer something businesses can afford to overlook. Used strategically, it has the power to strengthen organisations, develop future leaders, and keep investment firmly rooted in Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes.
We’d love to hear from anyone who wants to find more about how we can support them to either transfer their levy out to other businesses, or secure levy funding for a new start, or carry out upskilling training.
The Right Track Consultancy has teamed up with HR experts CE People to host a seminar for local business owners during National Apprenticeship Week. The event, at the Mercure Hotel Northampton from 11.30am on Tuesday, February 10, will explore how apprenticeships can transform the workforce and help navigate the latest HR and employment law changes.
Contact The Right Track Consultancy at Helen@therighttrackconsultancy.com or visit the website.
Director
The Right Track Consultancy
