Taking Control of Stewarding Skills – Could the Growth & Skills Levy Be the Game-Changer We’ve Been Waiting For?
Joseph Wooder – Business Development Manager
As someone who’s spent years working to get stewarding and event safety properly recognised in skills policy, it’s hard not to feel a flicker of optimism when reading about the incoming Growth and Skills Levy.
From April 2025, large employers will have more control over how they use their levy contributions – not just for apprenticeships, but for short, targeted training programmes. And for a sector like ours – where staff retention, entry-level training, and rapid upskilling are constant challenges – that flexibility could be a breakthrough.
Let’s be honest. Stewarding often gets overshadowed in skills funding conversations. Manufacturing, engineering, digital – they’re seen as the high-growth sectors. But every weekend, thousands of stewards are keeping the public safe at stadiums, festivals, racecourses, arenas – often moving between settings with little support for development or progression. A more flexible levy could change that.
The Numbers Speak for Themselves
Take a Premier League club with an annual wage bill of £20 million. Under the current rules, they’d pay 0.5% of that into their levy pot – around £1 million per year. Under the new system, up to 50% of that (£500,000) could be spent on non-apprenticeship training, like short courses that meet the National Occupational Standards in spectator safety.
Let’s say the average cost of delivering a short, accredited Level 2 Certificate in Spectator Safety is £500 per learner. That £500,000 could train 1,000 stewards per year – enough to support match days, summer events, and wider operations, with change to spare. For clubs struggling to recruit and retain match day staff, this isn’t just funding – it’s workforce strategy.
Levy Transfers: Widening the Impact
Now imagine that same club – let’s call them Northside United FC – decides to go further and transfer 30% of their levy to help build capacity across their stewarding supply chain.
They divide £300,000 across three key partners:
- SafeForce Events Ltd, who support lower-league fixtures and public events, receive £100,000 to train 200 new stewards.
- NightShield Services, who provide stewarding at music venues and night-time economy events, receive £100,000 to offer upskilling to their casual workforce.
- CrowdSure UK, who staff seasonal festivals and large outdoor events, receive £100,000 to deliver refresher and progression training to returning staff.
Each of these providers operates in a different part of the stewarding ecosystem – but they all draw from the same casual workforce that floats between settings. By redistributing a portion of their levy, Northside United creates a ripple effect: better trained teams, improved consistency across events, and stronger regional resilience when staffing challenges arise.
What’s Next?
This is what the Growth and Skills Levy could enable – but only if our sector is recognised in the policy detail. As it stands, we’re still waiting for Skills England to confirm which qualifications and courses will be eligible from 2025. We’re making the case for the Level 2 Certificate in Spectator Safety to be included. But we’re also realistic. We’ve seen before how sectors like stewarding are quietly deprioritised in favour of more industrial or digital skills.
That’s why we’ll keep pushing. Stewarding isn’t just a bolt-on – it’s a critical part of how live sport and entertainment function safely. With the right use of levy funds, we could build a sustainable pipeline of trained, reliable, professional stewards – and give employers in our sector the tools to grow and retain talent on their own terms.
For now, we wait to see if our qualifications are approved. But the opportunity is clear. If the Growth and Skills Levy delivers what it promises, it could be the start of a much-needed shift in how we train, support and value our stewarding workforce.
—
If you’re an employer in the security or events sector and want to explore how your levy could support steward training, get in touch with us at NGTC – we’re already planning for what’s next.