In 2017 the UK government introduced an “Apprenticeship Levy”. Large businesses would be made to contribute a percentage of the cost of their payroll into a pot, but could then claim back whatever they spent on training their staff. It was essentially a way to force businesses to spend a certain amount on growing their people, and had a “use it or lose it” dynamic.

Corndel were one of the first providers to respond to this newly created sector, and between 2017 and 2025 they built an extremely successful business offering leadership, management and technology training to people in businesses up and down the UK, all funded by the levy.

The emergence and adoption of AI within businesses, however, was something that threatened to shake up the whole industry. Corndel, already famous for their people-skills training, had to decide what their take on AI would be, how they should weave it into their offer, and how they could compete with AI-specialist competitors.

Working with the agency How&How, I explored what was going on and deciding how Corndel should respond.

The first step was to look at the changing dynamics of the apprenticeships sector. Was AI distorting demand for apprenticeships, pulling things towards up-to-date trendy “hard” tech skills and away from traditional “soft” people skills? Was it creating an opportunity for new entrants to the category, who would otherwise have struggled to challenge established players like Corndel? Were businesses even demanding AI apprenticeships yet, or was it too early?

Next was to define how Corndel should respond. That certainly wasn’t by jumping on a tech bandwagon; instead, I figured out a way for Corndel to expand into AI training without losing the humanity that had made them who they were.

Finally, I pulled everything together in a brand strategy that defined how Corndel should show up in the world as a result of this strategy, with a clear understanding of who their customers were, what Corndel needed to say to them, and how they needed to look and feel.

• In-depth stakeholder interviews to understand differing attitudes within the business and to help bring everyone on the journey
• A strategic narrative that outlined how the brand should respond to shifting competitive dynamics
• A philosophy and a take on AI that felt true to their values
• A brand positioning that separated them from their tech-focused competition