Training investment among UK micro-businesses has been quietly shrinking since 2015

A 2025 round-up of British small business conditions repeats a claim that training provision among micro-firms fell from 50 per cent of firms in 2015 to 39 per cent in 2023, though nobody seems to know whose figures these actually are. This includes practices like yours, if you employ so much as one associate.

Page updated: 13 Aug 2026

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Practices carrying staff or associates should know that training spend among small British firms generally has been sliding for the best part of a decade, at least according to a number with no visible parentage.

Original Research	A general snapshot of UK small business conditions in 2025, including a claim about declining staff training over the previous decade
Source	https://www.enterpriseresearch.ac.uk/our-work/publications/
Overview	The page belongs to the Enterprise Research Centre, an academic-industry body that tracks UK small firm conditions, but the specific training figures quoted don't appear on it with any traceable citation.
Year	2025
Publisher	Academic, Enterprise Research Centre (ERC)
Relevance to Wellbeing	Multi-practitioner setups, centres and clinics sit squarely in the 1-9 employee band this claim describes, so the direction of travel is worth noting even if the exact numbers can't be pinned down.
Our Verdict	Too early to tell a plausible-sounding figure with no named study behind it, so treat it as a rumour with good manners rather than a fact.
Our Summary	If the direction is even roughly right, a practice that keeps training its people is doing something increasingly unusual, which is no bad thing to say out loud. There is no named survey, sample size, or methodology attached to the 50-to-39 figure anywhere on the page. The claim covers all UK micro-businesses, not wellbeing practices specifically, so the relevance is by inference, not evidence. Even unsourced, it's a useful prompt to check what your own practice actually spends on training, since most owners haven't looked.
Our Geo View	Specific to UK business population data; figures describe firms registered and employing staff in Britain.

Abstract of wellbeing niches and revenue flow

Recognise how this might impact your practice

Why this might matter to you

Coaching: this matters because a coaching practice that takes on associates and still funds their development stands out simply by not cutting corners.
Therapy: this matters because a therapy practice that skimps on supervision or CPD is doing what the trend suggests everyone else is doing, quietly.
Training: this matters because a training provider that lets its own trainers go stale is a walking contradiction, and clients notice.
Alternative Healing: this matters because a healing centre with several practitioners under one roof carries the same staffing pressures as any other small employer, whatever the treatment on offer.
Clinical: this matters because a clinic that under-invests in staff training is taking on risk in a sector where standards actually get checked.
Retreat/Centre: this matters because retreats and centres tend to run on a small, permanent team, exactly the size of business this claim describes.

Where this came from

A general publications page from the Enterprise Research Centre carries a wider claim about UK small business conditions in 2025, including a figure on falling staff training provision since 2015, with no study named for it.

Enterprise Research Centre (ERC), publications listing, 2025. No specific report title or survey is cited for the training figure itself.

Credibility flags: no methodology disclosed, sample size not disclosed, publisher type academic-industry body but the figure in question is unattributed on the page.

How we scored this

A relevance score out of 100, built from three things: how well it fits the six practice types, how recent it is, and how solid the methodology behind it is.

40%

Practice fit, 25How new, 100How solid, 0

Marked down heavily on method confidence for having no traceable source, held up on practice recency since the roundup itself is current, and marked down on practice fit because the underlying claim is about UK businesses generally rather than wellbeing practices specifically.

It's worth considering changes to your marketing practices

What this means for your marketing

Say plainly, if asked, that your practice invests in ongoing training for staff or associates, since this is apparently becoming rarer, not more common.
Put a line about CPD or supervision hours on your team or about page, rather than assuming clients will guess it happens.
Brief anyone answering enquiries not to quote this training statistic as fact, since it has no named source behind it.
Use the general idea, careful, well-run small teams keep developing their people, without leaning on the specific numbers.

Who this is most useful for

Practice type	Relevance	Recommended action
Coaching	Medium	Mention ongoing development for any associate coaches on your books
Therapy	Medium	Note supervision and CPD commitments in your marketing copy
Training	High	Make trainer development visible; it's your credibility on the line
Alternative Healing	Medium	Flag practitioner training standards where more than one person treats clients
Clinical	High	Document staff training formally; this is the sector most likely to be asked to prove it
Retreat/Centre	High	Highlight staff continuity and training as part of what makes the centre trustworthy

Best before

Best before: revisit if the Enterprise Research Centre publishes a dated, sourced version of this figure; until then, treat as unverified. Track future releases via Enterprise Research Centre.