Take Five is The 5% Club’s podcast series designed to spark meaningful conversations about skills, apprenticeships and earn-and-learn pathways — in a format that respects one thing we all value: time.
Take Five delivers sharp, engaging discussions in just 24 minutes — 5% of your working day — making it easy to stay informed, inspired and connected to what’s really happening across the skills landscape.
Take 5: Phil Smith CBE, Chair Skills England, Episode 6: Apprenticeships in the Company DNA
In this episode of Take Five, Lindsay Conroy, Director of Policy & Strategic Engagement at The 5% Club, is joined by Richard Gordon, SHEQ Director at AD Construction, and Phil Smith, Chair of Skills England, for a practical and inspiring discussion about the value apprenticeships can bring to employers of every size. Richard shares his own journey from starting work as a painter and decorator apprentice more than four decades ago to becoming a Board Director – and explains why that experi...
11 Sept 2026
Take 5: Phil Smith CBE, Chair Skills England, Episode 7: Finding Your Way - What an Apprenticeship Can Really Teach You!
In this episode of Take Five, Lindsay Conroy, Director of Policy & Strategic Engagement at The 5% Club, is joined by Phil Smith CBE, Chair of Skills England, and Maya Patel, Account Management Executive at AQA, for an open and thought-provoking conversation about Maya’s apprenticeship journey and what employers can learn from it. Maya reflects on leaving education following the disruption of Covid, choosing an apprenticeship rather than university, and making the significant decision to r...
14 Jul 2026
Take 5: Phil Smith CBE, Chair Skills England, Episode 5: Apprenticeships as a Strategic Business Investment
In this Episode, Lindsay Conroy and Phil Smith are joined by Sharon Blyfield OBE (Coca-Cola Europacific Partners) and Jon Hornagold (Amey) to discuss how apprenticeships have become a core element of long-term workforce planning rather than simply a recruitment initiative. Drawing on the experience of two major employers, the discussion demonstrates how apprenticeships help address future skills shortages, improve succession planning, and build organisational resilience. Both organisations em...
30 Jun 2026
Take 5: Phil Smith CBE, Chair Skills England, Episode 4: Skills England Annual Report
In this episode of Take Five, Lindsay Conroy (Director of Policy & Strategic Engagement) is joined by Phil Smith, Chair of Skills England, to explore the key themes emerging from the recently published Skills England Annual Report and what they mean for employers, learners and the future of the UK's skills system. The discussion covers the growing challenge of supporting young people into employment, the need to better recognise and articulate transferable skills, and how a more joi...
6 May 2026
Take 5: Bagnalls Painting & Decorating Contractors
Welcome to the The 5% Club Podcast: Take Five – where we bring you insight, inspiration and innovation from employers, stakeholders, policy makers and contributors, all in 5% of your working day. This episode is delivered in collaboration with the Youth Futures Foundation and forms part of a mini-series supporting the Make It An Apprenticeship Campaign. Bagnalls discuss how employers can use apprenticeships to create opportunities for people as they enter the workforce - what if we were abl...
6 May 2026
Take 5: Southbourne Rubber
Welcome to the The 5% Club Podcast: Take Five – where we bring you insight, inspiration and innovation from employers, stakeholders, policy makers and contributors, all in 5% of your working day. This episode is delivered in collaboration with the Youth Futures Foundation and forms part of a mini-series supporting the Make It An Apprenticeship Campaign. Today Chris Shirley, Fellow of The 5% Club, is in conversation with Stephen Wilde, Managing Director of Southbourne Rubber, who shares how ...
30 Mar 2026
Take 5: Phil Smith CBE, Chair Skills England, Episode 3 - Apprenticeship Assessment Reforms
In this episode of Take Five, Phil Smith, Chair of Skills England, joins us to discuss the recent apprenticeship assessment reforms and what they mean for employers across sectors. We explore the rationale behind the changes, how the reforms aim to create a more streamlined and responsive system, and the role employers are playing in shaping assessment approaches that better reflect workplace realities. The discussion focuses on how these changes support productivity, workforce development a...
26 Mar 2026
Take 5: Phil Smith CBE, Chair Skills England, Episode 2, Youth Guarantee
In this episode of Take Five, we are joined by Phil Smith, Chair of Skills England, to explore the Government’s Youth Guarantee and the recent announcements aimed at reducing youth unemployment and expanding access to apprenticeships. We discuss the strategic ambition behind the Youth Guarantee, the role employers can play in creating more opportunities for young people, and the new incentive structures designed to support businesses in recruiting and developing early-career talent. The conv...
19 Feb 2026
Take 5: MCFT
In this episode of Take Five, we speak to inspirational employer MCFT, a business that has gone all in on apprenticeships. Facing skills shortages and an ageing workforce, MCFT made a strategic decision to grow their own talent. As an established employer-provider, they now recruit four times a year to their engineering programmes and achieve retention rates significantly above the national average. Hear directly from MCFT about how they have built a culture of clear career pathways, how they...
11 Feb 2026
Take 5: Phil Smith, Chair Skills England
In this special National Apprenticeship Week episode of Take Five, we are joined by Phil Smith CBE, Chair of Skills England, for a celebratory and forward-looking conversation about the power of apprenticeships. Together, we reflect on the role employers play in building the UK’s future workforce, the impact apprenticeships have on individuals and businesses alike, and why investing in early talent is not just the right thing to do, but smart business. Drawing on his leadership experience, in...
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