People-Centric Apprenticeships at Acorn Insurance

Feb 6
4 min read

Modern building with large windows under a blue sky. "work pays" and "ACORN" logos in the corner. Street and trees in the background.

When one department piloted apprenticeships at Acorn Insurance, the response from other teams was immediate: they wanted the same opportunity for their people.

That organic demand signalled something significant. In an industry where retention and skills development are constant challenges, Acorn had found an approach that worked — not just on paper, but in practice.

Today, 75 apprentices are progressing across the business, from entry-level roles to experienced professionals upskilling for their next career step. Working in partnership with Workpays, Acorn has built a scalable workforce development strategy that delivers measurable impact on retention, capability, and employee progression

About Acorn Insurance and Natalie Woods

Acorn Insurance operates across the UK as an insurance broker, with teams handling everything from customer service to complex claims and specialist cover. They're part of the broader Acorn Group, which brings together several companies under one umbrella.

Natalie Woods manages apprenticeships across the entire group, working closely with Workpays to ensure the programme delivers results across different teams, locations, and skill levels.

When we spoke to Natalie, the numbers were encouraging:

53 existing employees upskilling through apprenticeships
22 complete newcomers starting their insurance careers from scratch

That split matters. It shows Acorn isn't just using apprenticeships to fill entry-level gaps — they're backing people who've already proven themselves, giving them the tools to go further. With Workpays providing the structure and support, both groups have a clear pathway to progress.

The Challenge: Turning Potential into Progress

Acorn had been contributing to the Apprenticeship Levy for a while, like thousands of other UK employers. But like many businesses, they hadn't yet explored how to unlock its full potential for workforce development.

The timing was right. Acorn's leadership had always valued growing people internally — they'd seen it work — but lacked a scalable framework to deliver development consistently across the business.

Apprenticeships provided that framework. Structured qualifications. Externally validated skills. Clear progression pathways. And finally, a way to put levy funding to meaningful use.

The business case made sense. But for Natalie and her team, the real opportunity was deeper: the chance to genuinely change people's careers.

Why Workpays Became More Than a Provider

When Natalie took on the apprenticeship manager role, the partnership with Workpays was already in place, and it quickly became one of her strongest assets. From day one, the Workpays team provided comprehensive support: helping her navigate the levy system, streamlining cohort enrolments, and ensuring managers felt confident supporting their apprentices.

Rather than operating at arm's length, Workpays worked alongside Natalie as a true partner. Questions were answered promptly, enrolment processes ran smoothly, and managers received the guidance they needed to make the programme work for their teams.

The relationship evolved into something genuinely collaborative. As Natalie puts it:

“Workpays aren’t just another provider. They’ve become trusted partners who genuinely go above and beyond.” — Natalie Woods, Apprenticeship Manager

It's the kind of partnership that makes the difference between a programme that exists on paper and one that delivers real results.

Flexible, People-Centric Delivery

Here's where most apprenticeship programmes fall apart: inflexibility.

Training providers often arrive with rigid schedules, non-negotiable session times, and a "this is how we do it" attitude. That might work in a classroom, but it's a disaster in a busy insurance office where customer calls don't stop because someone has a tutorial.

Workpays took a different approach. Some of Acorn's teams were running with ten apprentices at once — a logistical nightmare if you're not willing to adapt. Instead of forcing everyone into the same mould, Workpays' coaches planned masterclasses, enrolments, and progress reviews around Acorn's operational realities.

Busy claims period? Sessions got moved. Manager on annual leave? They rescheduled. Apprentice struggling with a module? Extra support appeared.

Communication stayed open, expectations stayed clear, and nobody felt like they were being pushed through a system that didn't care about their actual circumstances.

That's what people-centric delivery looks like when it's done properly.

The Impact: Growth You Can See

The proof isn't in the brochures, it's in what actually happened.

One department ran a pilot. It worked. Word spread. The claims team asked if they could get involved. Then taxi insurance. Then other parts of the business started asking Natalie when their turn would come.

This wasn't a top-down mandate. It was organic growth driven by managers seeing their people develop and thinking, "We want that for our team too."

The outcomes speak for themselves:

People who started as apprentices are now managing teams
Others have moved into HR, building the very structures that supported them Confidence has grown across the business — people are speaking up more, contributing ideas, taking ownership
Skills learned on the programme are showing up everywhere, not just in job-specific tasks

While street-to-seat roles naturally experience higher turnover as learners explore different career paths, the retention among existing employees on apprenticeships has been notably strong. These colleagues are staying with the business, progressing into new roles, and building long-term careers.

And that retention alone pays back the investment several times over.

What Happens Next

Acorn doesn't do annual apprenticeship intakes anymore. They run cohorts every six months now because demand inside the business is too high to make people wait a full year.

Apprenticeships aren't a side project. They're not a nice-to-have. They're baked into how Acorn thinks about workforce development, succession planning, and long-term growth.

Natalie's advice to other employers thinking about doing something similar is refreshingly straightforward:

Do your homework. Not every apprenticeship or provider will suit your business.
Choose a partner, not just a supplier. You need people who'll work with you, not just deliver at you.
Focus on the right learners. Apprenticeships work brilliantly when people want to learn and grow. They don't work as a fix for poor recruitment.

Get those three things right, and you're not just running a programme. You're building something that compounds — better people, stronger teams, a business that's genuinely investing in its future