Skills gaps
Ageing workforce
Relentless change
Bridging the gap. Building the future.
Instep works with HR and L&D teams to design customisable apprenticeship programmes aligned to your business goals, turning levy spend into leadership pipelines, building internal change capability, and delivering measurable impact on the shop floor.
Book a Manufacturing Skills Strategy Call
featuring Iain Cole & Kartik Bhatt.
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manufacturing client directors
Hear from our manufacturing client directors on the challenges facing UK manufacturers (and how Instep helps overcome them.)
Kartik Bhatt
Director
Lain
Director
What’s holding manufacturers back?
Organisational challenges
Thin margins and rising costs demand efficiency without extra headcount.
Lean, automation, ESG targets, and supply chain volatility require structured change capability.
Ageing workforce creates succession risk and loss of critical knowledge.
HR & People challenges
“Accidental managers” promoted for technical skill, not leadership capability.
Poor succession planning and limited career pathways for shop-floor staff.
Retention issues and low engagement with learning.
L&D challenges
Training isn’t changing behaviour on the shop floor.
Programmes don’t fit operational realities like shifts and downtime.
Struggle to evidence ROI and make levy spend strategic.
Customised programmes.
Co-created with you.
We group solutions by capability, not by generic courses.
Leadership
Build confident supervisors and managers who lead people, performance, and safety.
Women in Leadership
Create inclusive pipelines and unlock underrepresented talent.
Data
Equip managers to interpret dashboards, KPIs and make evidence-based decisions.
Coaching
Embed behaviours and resilience for high-pressure environments.
Change
Develop internal change agents to deliver Lean, CI, and transformation.
Impact Dashboard
Every programme includes a work-based impact project tied to your KPIs, proving ROI in real terms.
40% Reduce time
SMED changeovers
60% Reduce scrap
Scrap Reduction
3.9x
Engagement uplift
Trusted by leading manufacturers
SUCCESS STORIES
Associated British Foods
Built leadership capability, improved retention, and succession planning.
Ibstock
Delivered measurable productivity gains through impact projects.
Request a tailored pilot scoped to your site
Articles
Insights for manufacturing leaders
Closing the Skills Gap in Manufacturing and Construction: 5 Practical Steps for HR…
Written by Instep | 18 November 2025
Lean Manufacturing: How Apprenticeships Drive Agility, Productivity and Talent…
Written by Instep | 18 November 2025