“South Yorkshire doesn’t just need a bigger economy; we need a better one,” said Mayor Oliver Coppard when launching the region’s Apprenticeship Hub. That spirit sits behind a £725m Government package announced on 7 December to grow apprenticeships and let mayors connect young people to real jobs.

Ministers say the reforms will support 50,000 more young people over three years, with a £140m pilot giving Mayors the tools to link those not in education, employment or training with local employers. The Government will also cover the full training cost for eligible under‑25s at small and medium‑sized firms by scrapping the 5% co‑investment.

Alongside this, new foundation apprenticeships will open in entry‑level sectors such as hospitality and retail, while short courses in AI, engineering and digital begin rolling out from April 2026. A new Level 4 apprenticeship in AI is due, and the defence sector will help shape flexible, work‑based training options.

For the North, the mayoral pilot matters because it backs what’s already working on the ground. Liverpool City Region has built a skills offer around its Be More service and is now represented nationally on the Construction Skills Mission Board; South Yorkshire’s Apprenticeship Hub is designed as a one‑stop shop for residents and SMEs. The pilot funding should help scale approaches like these.

Manufacturers say they’re ready to play their part. “Industry is keen to work with mayoral authorities to recruit more young people into engineering and manufacturing apprenticeships,” said Make UK’s Robert Halfon, welcoming the shift to locally led recruitment.

Hospitality employers have made a similar case. Marston’s calls apprenticeships “a vital pathway” for confidence and skills, while UKHospitality says adding hospitality to foundation routes will open more doors for young people in towns and city centres across the North.

The reforms are pitched as a reset after a difficult decade. Apprenticeship starts among young people have fallen by almost 40% since 2015/16, and the latest ONS data shows 12.7% of 16–24‑year‑olds-about 946,000 people-were NEET between July and September 2025. That is the scale of the challenge.

What changes now for Northern SMEs? For eligible under‑25s, the training bill falls to zero, removing a cost that often blocked first hires. Mayors will have money to match candidates to roles with local providers, and from 2026 firms will be able to use short courses to top up specific skills in fast‑moving areas.

Whitehall says DWP and Skills England will work “intensively” with business in the coming months to lift apprenticeship starts while keeping flexibility for employers. The wider Youth Guarantee-funded with £820m-aims to create 300,000 opportunities to earn and learn and provide almost 55,000 guaranteed jobs, supported by an expanding network of Youth Hubs.

Support is broad, but not uncritical. The CIPD welcomes more places and a stronger mayoral role as “a positive step”, while urging a clearer, long‑term skills strategy and more direct support-such as wage grants-for small firms that want to take on school‑leavers.

In the end, success in the North will be measured in starts that stick: young people moving into paid roles with progression, and small employers saying the process is simpler. With summer recruitment cycles not far off, combined authorities have a window to prove what locally led skills can deliver-especially in hospitality and manufacturing.