Lifeways Group
Lifeways Group is the UK’s largest provider of supported living services for adults. Founded in 1995, the company employs over 9,000 to 11,000 professionals supporting approximately 4,000 to 5,000 individuals across England, Scotland, and Wales within more than 1,000 residential and community locations.
Years awarded: 2025, 2026
Region: North West England
Size: 1000+ employees
Sector: Pharmaceuticals and healthcare
Improving confidence, competence and consistency of care
Theme: Apprenticeships
Lifeways redesigned its induction programme to strengthen early employee retention and workforce capability across its care services. Introduced to address high levels of new starter attrition, the programme has supported 2,418 employees and significantly improved confidence, competence and consistency of care. The initiative reduced early leavers by 131 in 2025, generating significant recruitment cost savings and helping to improve service stability and quality.
Creating opportunities through enhanced apprenticeship programme
Themes: Onboarding
Lifeways’ enhanced apprenticeship programme has strengthened workforce capability, retention and career progression across the organisation. Redesigned in 2023 in response to learner feedback, the programme has increased staff retention by 21% and delivered promotion rates of 17%, significantly above the organisational average. It has also improved apprenticeship levy utilisation from 54% to 90% while creating valuable opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged and low-qualification backgrounds.
Transforming leadership to improve care outcomes
Themes: Leadership and management
Topics: Bespoke training; In-house
Lifeways Group, which provides supported living services for adults with diverse needs, launched its Ops Leadership Development Programme leading to improved CQC ratings and a reduction in agency use. Staff turnover has dropped from 45% to 29%, and 90% of participants now exceed performance benchmarks across at least four KPIs. With an NPS score of between 85%-100%, the programme is driving cultural change and leadership consistency across the organisation.
News and case studies featuring Lifeways Group:
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