UK faces shortfall of 250,000 tradespeople by 2030, warns Screwfix chief

The UK is on course for a million-year shortage of skilled tradespeople by 2030, as the current apprenticeship system fails to attract new entrants to key trades such as plumbing, carpentry and electrical work, according to ScrewFix.

Chief executive John Mewett has warned that the apprenticeship levy “doesn’t work for small businesses”, leaving sole traders – who make up much of the country’s skilled workforce – unable to afford apprentices.

Only 2% of sole traders hired an apprentice in the last year, according to a new report from the retailer. With one in four tradespeople due for retirement in the next five years, the findings point to a skills crisis that could impact housing, infrastructure and the wider economy.

“A lot of the traders who can train apprentices are sole traders,” Mewitt said. “The burden of taking on an apprentice is significant, with the paperwork, responsibility and lack of funding that comes with it. The system doesn’t work for small businesses.”

Screwfix has helped fund 50 apprenticeships since 2022 by partnering with the Flexible Apprenticeship Agency, which matches apprentices with sole traders while they handle the administration and paperwork.

The initiative is funded by the company’s apprenticeship levy – a 0.5% annual levy on payrolls over £3m – but Mewett said the funding pool was limited.

Ministers called for billions of pounds in unused tax money to be unlocked to expand schemes that support small employers.

“The government has billions in undisclosed funds that could be redeployed to help take some of the burden away from traders who want to train,” he said.

Under current “use it or lose it” rules, employers have two years to spend tax money before it is recovered by the Treasury Department. A Freedom of Information request in 2022 revealed that more than £3.3 billion in unused tax money had been clawed back since May 2019.

Little incentive to take on apprentices

Despite the barriers, those who train trainees report positive experiences. The ScrewFix survey found that 64% of traders who took on an apprentice said they would do so again – even though half received no government funding to support training costs.

The research, based on responses from 701 ScrewFix trading customers surveyed in June, highlights deep frustration in the sector.

Mewett said that although government policy had moved in the right direction – with employment replacing its university participation goal with a broader goal including more education and vocational training – important gaps remained.

“If you go to university, there is a clear path with student loans and support,” he said. “If you go into vocational training, it’s more difficult. There are no tool loans or financial help to get started. The government needs to make this path more regulated – just as it is for higher education.”

ScrewFix’s warning adds to a chorus from the industry that the UK faces a gap in the expanding construction and trade space.

Recent figures from the Construction Industry Training Council suggest the sector will need to employ an additional 250,000 workers by 2028 to meet housing and infrastructure targets – with similar shortages emerging in electricity, heating and maintenance services.

Experts warn that without apprenticeship tax reform and stronger incentives for small businesses, the UK risks falling further behind its reformist ambitions – especially as demand for energy-efficient home upgrades accelerates under the government’s net-zero plans.

With more than a million tradespeople about to retire and a slow pipeline of new apprentices, the UK faces one of its most severe labor shortages in decades.

ScrewFix’s Mewett said the solution is to simplify the system, cut the red tape, and ensure that tax levy funds actually reach small employers ready to train the next generation.

“We are seeing real demand from young people to enter the professions,” he said. “The challenge isn’t appetite — it’s access. Fix that, and we can close the skills gap.”