A big Tick-Tok for WMAAN this National Apprentice Week 

As a central powerhouse of employment, the West Midlands offers vast opportunities for apprentices to gain skills and shape careers, and for employers to attract and develop new talent. The West Midlands Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (WMAAN) is the regional arm of the national Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN).

The WMAAN is made up of around 450 volunteer ambassadors, who operate across six sub-regions – The Black Country, Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire, The Marches, Greater Birmingham & Solihull, Coventry & Warwickshire and Worcester – to promote apprenticeships across the region. They offer up their lived experience, and particularly in the case of Apprentice Ambassadors, act as influencers to the next generation of our workforce by sharing their apprenticeship journeys, in schools, at careers fairs and open days.

National Apprenticeship Week (9-15 February 2026) was the perfect time for the WMAAN to bring Ambassadors together, to reflect on the achievements of the past year, and to recognise and celebrate the impact of Apprentice and Employer Ambassadors, and take a look at what lies ahead.

With a theme of rising stars and creative connection, Ambassadors from some of the region’s largest employers and smaller enterprises, from both the public and private sector made their way to the inspiring, newly launched Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Institute of Technology in Stafford for the Celebrate Success event.

Co-Chair of the WMAAN and People & Culture Manager at KMF, Jenny Johnston opened the event by sharing the growth achieved by the network over the past year. The WMAAN attracted 94 new Apprentice Ambassadors and 54 new Employer Ambassadors. With outreach to smaller businesses and connection to schools set as key targets, the Network reported a connection with 95% of schools in the West Midlands and engaged with 396 small to medium-sized enterprises in the past year. 2025 also saw 7 new members join the leadership team, which has strengthened and unified the Network across the sub-regions. Communication has been underpinned by the introduction of quarterly hybrid Ambassador meetings, held in the Black Country, Birmingham and Coventry and joined online not only by West Midlands Ambassadors, but also by national AAN representatives and government ministers.

After this big tick of success, the Ambassadors were set an ‘Apprentice’ style TikTok challenge, as their attentions turned to the year ahead, and how to attract more people who are not in education, employment or training, to consider the apprenticeship route.

Building on the introduction of a new WMAAN website and social media channels, the delegates left the ‘boardroom’ and became the literal stars of the show. They headed off to the Institute of Technology’s amazing robotics, construction, science, hospital ward, state-of-the-art media suites and interactive media igloo to create short videos, aimed at innovatively promoting apprenticeships, in each of these career areas. The teams of Ambassadors were fittingly and brilliantly supported by staff and students from the Institute of Technology, including those currently studying HNC/D Digital Content Creation. The outcomes of the Ambassadors challenge will prove a further challenge to the students, as they’re commissioned to finesse the videos, which will air later this year.

It’s important to note that the WMAAN gives a voice to employers, and a connection the government’s direction, intention and momentum of apprenticeships. The mentoring role of Employer Ambassadors has proved pivotal, inspiring new businesses to introduce apprenticeships and shape the future of employment pathways.

Testament to this connection, the WMAAN event was joined by Anthony Impey MBE, board member of Skills England and lead of the national AAN, who led a lively roundtable discussion on SME engagement and the impact of apprenticeships in small businesses. Anthony dropped into the SoTSIoT as part of his wider tour of all AAN regions, to connect with over 100 SMEs as part of National Apprenticeship Week.

The event culminated in the presentation of long service awards for Ambassadors who’ve committed so much time, energy and passion to the promotion of Apprenticeships in the West Midlands.

Co-Chair, Jenny summed up the event with a call to action, “The day has been all about celebrating the rising stars of apprenticeships. The educational and training providers who provide support and help train and develop the workforce. The employers who invest in the talent of the future and of course the Apprentices themselves, whose positive experiences they are only too willing to share with the apprentices of the future. It’s been about embracing the changing communications landscape, and the fantastic facilities and array of future careers we have here in the powerhouse of the West Midlands. We’d like to take this opportunity, not just to thank our existing Ambassadors, but to put a call out to anyone passionate about Apprenticeships, to get involved and join our mission to shape the workforce of the future and provide positive apprenticeship pathways for the people of the West Midlands.”