Education & skills
MBKB Training
We turned an Outstanding Ofsted rating into a parliamentary roundtable, five FE Week opinion pieces and a sector-wide apprenticeship reform agenda with major employer consensus behind it.
An Ofsted Outstanding, award-winning training provider based in the West Midlands, delivering apprenticeships and bespoke training programmes across leadership, HR, finance and early years.
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The brief
Following its Outstanding Ofsted rating in October 2022, Bridgehead was appointed to position MBKB's Chief Executive as a thought leader in the skills sector, while communicating a clear, reform-focused vision for the future of apprenticeships to policymakers and industry stakeholders.
What they needed
Establish MBKB's Chief Executive as a recognised voice on skills policy.
Promote a reform-focused vision for improving apprenticeship delivery.
Engage policymakers and sector leaders in discussion around proposed reforms.
Showcase MBKB as a training provider of choice within its target sectors.
The approach
A thought leadership-led public affairs and media programme — from FE Week opinion series to a parliamentary roundtable — building MBKB's policy profile alongside its commercial positioning.
FE Week opinion series
We placed five opinion articles in FE Week outlining MBKB's proposed apprenticeship reforms, establishing the Chief Executive as a consistent and credible voice on the sector's most important policy debate.
Parliamentary roundtable
We convened a roundtable hosted by Peter Aldous MP — 'How to Optimise Apprenticeships Amidst Widespread Degree Devaluation' — bringing together senior representatives from Mitie, GoAhead, McGinley, British Transport Police and County Durham Fire and Rescue.
Policy report
Insights from the roundtable were compiled into a policy report for use in subsequent stakeholder meetings, converting the event into lasting policy currency that continued to drive conversations long after the day.
The results
pieces of coverage
coverage views
decision-makers reached via The Mark newsletter
The coverage
80k+ specialist readers
Policy
Minimum duration requirements are holding apprenticeships back
FE Week
Policy
How to optimise apprenticeships amidst widespread degree devaluation
Hosted by Peter Aldous MP · House of Commons
Specialist law enforcement readership
Training
Culture of coaching: how MBKB is transforming police force development
Police Professional
The milestone
A parliamentary roundtable that turned a training provider into an apprenticeship reform agenda.
By convening senior employers from Mitie, GoAhead, British Transport Police and County Durham Fire alongside Peter Aldous MP, we created the conditions for a genuine policy conversation. The resulting employer consensus — on completion rates, online learning and standards flexibility — was documented in a report that continued to drive stakeholder engagement long after the event.
Seen in
The impact
Five opinion articles in FE Week establishing the CEO as the sector's apprenticeship reform voice.
Parliamentary roundtable hosted by Peter Aldous MP with senior employer attendance.
Policy report enabling sustained stakeholder engagement post-event.
~4,000 government and training-sector decision-makers reached via The Mark newsletter.
The outcome
17 pieces, a parliamentary roundtable and an employer-backed reform agenda — MBKB positioned as both sector advocate and training provider of choice.
