What we do

Overview

The National Employer Service (NES) provides expert, impartial advice on workforce development (including Apprenticeships, Train to Gain and Skills for Life) to all national, multi-site employers with more than 5000 employees, accompanied by a range of funding support.

NES was created to put skills and training at the top of the corporate agenda. We challenge employers on the scale and effectiveness of their training, connect and enable them to share best practice and where appropriate, co-invest in the cost of achieving real results.

We work on behalf of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the Skills Funding Agency and the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS)

NES helps employers understand, develop and invest in large scale, highly cost-effective embedded training programmes by enabling them to procure, promote and deliver the training they need in the way that works best for their businesses.

Our approach to funding is one of shared contribution, with government and employers co-investing in the frontline training that creates economically valuable skills. This means channeling any public investment to areas where it delivers the greatest value for money and catalyses the skilled jobs that will be needed in the British economy of the future. NES companies closely measure the return on this joint public-private investment.

Our service gives employers personalised account management through a single point of contact. This makes navigating the policy environment and interacting with the many partners in the skills system as straightforward as possible. We actively help companies make things simpler through measures to reduce bureaucracy and paperwork.

NES companies are a vital network of the country’s top employers who understand that investing in the skills of their people improves productivity and competitiveness.