The UK is on course for a quarter of a million shortfall in skilled tradespeople by 2030, as the current apprenticeship system fails to attract new entrants into key trades such as plumbing, carpentry, and electrical work, according to Screwfix.
Chief executive John Mewett warned that the apprenticeship levy “doesn’t work for small businesses,” leaving sole traders — who make up much of the country’s skilled workforce — unable to take on trainees.
Only 2% of sole traders hired an apprentice in the past year, according to a new report by the retailer. With one in four tradespeople due to retire in the next five years, the findings point to a looming skills crisis that could impact housing, infrastructure, and the wider economy.
“A lot of the tradespeople who can train apprentices are sole traders,” said Mewett. “The burden of taking on an apprentice is significant, with the paperwork, responsibility, and lack of funding that comes with it. The system just isn’t working for small businesses.”
Screwfix has helped fund 50 apprenticeships since 2022 by partnering with a flexi-job apprenticeship agency, which matches trainees with sole traders while handling administration and paperwork.
The initiative is financed through the company’s apprenticeship levy — a 0.5% annual tax on payrolls over £3 million — but Mewett said the funding pool is limited.
He called on ministers to unlock billions of pounds in unused levy funds to expand schemes that support small employers.
“The government has billions of unspent levy funds that could be redeployed to help take some of the burden away from tradespeople who do want to train,” he said.
Under the current “use it or lose it” rules, employers have two years to spend levy funds before they are reclaimed by the Treasury. A Freedom of Information request in 2022 revealed that more than £3.3 billion of unused levy money had been returned since May 2019.
Few incentives for taking on apprentices
Despite the barriers, those who do train apprentices report positive experiences. The Screwfix survey found that 64% of tradespeople who took on an apprentice said they would do so again — even though half received no government funding to support training costs.
The research, based on responses from 701 Screwfix trade customers surveyed in June, highlights deep frustration across the sector.
Mewett said that while government policy had moved in the right direction — with Labour replacing its university participation target with a broader goal encompassing further education and apprenticeships — significant gaps remain.
“If you go to university, there’s a clear path with student loans and support,” he said. “If you go into an apprenticeship, it’s much more challenging. There are no loans for tools or financial help to get started. The government needs to make that path more structured — just like it is for higher education.”
Screwfix’s warning adds to a chorus of industry concern that the UK faces a widening construction and trade skills gap.
Recent figures from the Construction Industry Training Board suggest the sector will need to recruit an additional 250,000 workers by 2028 to meet housing and infrastructure targets — with similar shortages emerging across electrical, heating, and maintenance services.
Experts warn that without reform of the apprenticeship levy and stronger incentives for small firms, the UK risks falling further behind its building and retrofit ambitions — especially as demand for energy-efficient home upgrades accelerates under the government’s net-zero plans.
With more than a million tradespeople nearing retirement and a sluggish pipeline of new apprentices, the UK faces one of its most acute labour shortfalls in decades.
Screwfix’s Mewett said the solution lies in simplifying the system, cutting red tape, and ensuring that levy funds actually reach small employers willing to train the next generation.
“We’re seeing real demand from young people to enter trades,” he said. “The challenge isn’t appetite — it’s access. Fix that, and we can close the skills gap.”
