Growth Engines: Lead using a simple, big, bold number

Jonathan Bourne, joined by his former boss, Phillip Bennett, exited corporate life and bought Damar Training, a small apprenticeship training provider, to turn their talk into a walk.

Today, with 65 people and nearly 1,200 apprentices across various disciplines, many organisations depend on Damar to equip new and existing staff members with the skills needed to drive business performance. Motivated by their accomplishments, Bourne and his team have set an audacious 20-month goal to double the number of apprentices on Damar’s books.

The back story

The Apprenticeship Levy is charged to all employers with annual UK salary bills exceeding £3m. It will raise about £4bn in the next academic year. Employers of all sizes in England can use it to enhance the capabilities, skills and capacity of their most valuable asset: their people.

Most sectors are heavily contested. Competition is fierce and more challenging in a sluggish economy where cost management, once exhausted, has business leaders turning to productivity enhancements. But productivity is hard to get right and depends on measuring and improving performance across all resources. People are a significant component, so increasing skills and competencies for new and existing team members makes for an easy win.