Lloyds Banking Group has announced a £100 million investment in future skills, including plans to reskill 20,000 employees and support a further 600,000 young people across the UK by 2030. The programme forms part of the banking group’s new strategic phase and accompanies its highest-ever position in a major ranking of graduate employers.
The announcement comes after Lloyds moved into the top 10 of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2026. According to BirminghamLive, the banking group placed 10th this year, compared with 40th in 2021, while also recording higher positions in rankings covering apprenticeships and technology employment.
Lloyds Reaches Its Highest Position in Graduate Employer Rankings
Lloyds Banking Group ranked 10th in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2026, marking its highest position in the ranking. Five years earlier, in 2021, the group had been placed 40th. Its performance extended to apprenticeships. According to BirminghamLive, Lloyds ranked sixth in the Government and Higherin Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2026, after occupying 54th place in 2024.
The banking group was also placed seventh in the technology sector in The Times “Employers of Choice” rankings. These rankings come after five years in which Lloyds has expanded its next-generation talent proposition and youth outreach. Its opportunities cover technology, data and artificial intelligence, as well as customer-facing and business positions.
The programmes available to young people include apprenticeships, work experience, placements, careers education and employability schemes. They are intended to help participants develop skills and find routes into work, including young people who are not currently in education, employment or training.
Sharon Doherty, chief people and places officer at Lloyds Banking Group, described the graduate and apprenticeship rankings as a significant moment for the organisation.
“Being recognised among the UK’s top 10 graduate employers and top six apprentice employers, and achieving our highest-ever rankings, is a proud moment for Lloyds Banking Group,” she said. Doherty said the results reflected the group’s continuing commitment to providing young people with opportunities to gain experience, develop skills and begin careers.
£100 Million Investment Targets Employees and Young People
Alongside the employer rankings, Lloyds has set out a £100 million investment designed to develop future skills. The plans include reskilling 20,000 of the group’s existing colleagues.
The initiative also sets an ambition to support a further 600,000 young people across the UK by 2030. According to BirminghamLive, achieving that target would take the group’s total support to one million young people over a decade.
The support is spread across several routes rather than a single employment programme. Apprenticeships sit alongside work experience and placements, while careers education and employability programmes provide other forms of assistance.
Doherty linked the investment directly with the group’s plans for young people. “That’s why we’re investing £100 million in future-ready skills and increasing our ambition to support more than 600,000 young people by 2030, putting us on track to help one million young people take their next step over a decade,” she said.
The announcement therefore combines two strands of Lloyds Banking Group’s skills programme: developing capabilities among 20,000 existing colleagues and extending opportunities to hundreds of thousands of young people by the end of the decade.
