Somerset employers can benefit from £2.5m skills training fund
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Somerset and Devon have the opportunity to benefit from a £2.5m skills training pot for their workforce.
Heart of the South West Apprenticeship Service, managed by Serco’s Employment, Skills & Enterprise business and working in partnership with the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), originally launched the programme in September 2016.
Serco’s contract has now been awarded a contract until March 2019, after 1,067 learners from 372 businesses across the two counties have benefited from the free training available.
The programme aims to support growth across all sectors by providing businesses with:
Recognised accredited qualifications and bespoke training courses aimed at enhancing employees’ skills and helping them to progress into Apprenticeships.
Support to enable employers to take advantage of Apprenticeship opportunities that work for each business – including an advice and brokerage service to help navigating apprenticeship funding and recruitment processes.
Businesses can select from a range of qualifications or mix and match individual units to support their work. These can include technical skills training and higher level skills such as leadership and management. Previous programme participants have benefited from increased employee confidence, motivation and productivity and improved employee loyalty and retention.
Chair of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, Steve Hindley CBE DL, said: “The LEP aims to help businesses grow and to generate rewarding careers for employees in the Heart of the South West area, and this fully-funded skills training does both.
“I hope many more employers will take advantage of the support on offer to help them up-skill their workforce and improve their productivity.”
Businesses can contact Serco on hotswapprenticeships@serco.com or 01752 968026 for more details and to find out if they are eligible for funded training and business support.
Alternatively, find out more by visiting https://heartofswlep.co.uk/news/devon-somerset-businesses-benefit-2-5m-skills-training-pot/.
Released On 29th Aug 2018