West Berkshire Training Consortium welcomes record number of new apprentices

West Berkshire Training Consortium (WBTC) has welcomed a 'bounce-back' to apprenticeships, locally.

It has reported a record number of new apprentices starting a programme in the first three months of this academic year.

Covid had a significant impact on apprenticeships, both in the number of new apprentices recruited into businesses and for those on programmes, many of which had interrupted learning.

However the summer months of 2022 saw the Employers of West Berkshire really invest in the recruitment of Apprentices and more recently in the upskilling of the existing team through training via apprenticeship funding, which WBTC was delighted to support.

WBTC Executive Director Claire Richards said “Apprenticeships are available to anyone as long as eligibility criteria is met, you are over the age of 16 and not in full time education.

“You can even do an apprenticeship if you are already employed, often referred to as up-skilling.

“There is thought to be a link between training and retention, so it is a great way to invest in your staff whilst they benefit from learning new and up-to-date knowledge, skills and behaviours relevant to their job roles.

“It is also a great tool for succession planning within your business.”

Locally, there has been an excellent response from large employers with surplus funds in their apprenticeship levy accounts, keen to donate funds to SME’s to cover any training costs.

Frequently, money in Levy accounts goes unspent and is then re-claimed after 24 months by the Government.

In a bid to boost recovery, large employers are able to donate up to 25% of their unspent funds.

HR Manager at West Berkshire Council Abi Witting said: “West Berkshire Council are keen to advocate apprenticeships to help a range of residents but particularly our young people to get access to quality training and to reach their full potential.

“Whilst we provide a number of apprenticeship opportunities ourselves we are also keen to maximise the use of the apprenticeship levy and to support SME’s by funding training via levy transfer.

“Since 2017 we have supported 14 apprentices in 11 local businesses and were delighted to meet Imogen one of our newest funded apprentices at FirstXtra recently.”

Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education councillor Dominic Boeck said: “Apprenticeships are a great way for learners of all ages to gain new knowledge and skills and to improve their prospects.

“They can open up a world of opportunity and I congratulate all those apprentices who completed their qualifications this year.

“With some excellent support from the Council and our partners it really will help them to unlock their full potential.”

WBTC’s aim has been to match donation from larger employers to local SME’s, giving small businesses the boost they need by creating greater opportunities for them to engage in the apprenticeship scheme whilst aligning the donating employers corporate and social responsibility agendas.

Three employers who have benefited from the scheme are FirstXtra Financial Services Ld and Engineering Solutions and Supply Ltd who received donations from West Berkshire Council alongside Kennet School who received donations from Sovereign Housing Association.

Firstxtra Financial Services managing director Chris Hall said: “We have employed many apprentices over the past ten years and it is a vital part of our business and it also helps the local economy and gives the young people a chance to get in to employment whilst gaining a suitable qualification.”

Head of organisations development at Sovereign Hannah Gibson said: “Apprenticeships are a fundamental part of our Talent strategy in Sovereign, they enable us to sustain a pipeline of either early careers across the business or support career development by upskilling and qualifying many of our existing staff using our apprenticeship levy.

“The team and I take great pride in how our Apprentices embrace their learning journeys, from when we onboard them to supporting them through end point assessment, seeing them progress into established team members, take on additional accountability in an existing role or move into new roles in one of our five directorates.”

She added: “This is where apprenticeships have delivered real value into Sovereign.

“Apprenticeships have been a key element in our approach to learning and development within Sovereign for a number of years, regardless of the programme or age of an apprentice, they are able to significantly contribute to our purpose as an organisation.”

Kennet School assistant head teacher Gerwyn Clegg said: said "Kennet School are delighted to continue to be able to offer positions to apprentices through the support we receive from Sovereign Housing.

“The training that these individuals receive as apprentices on the job enables them to become valued and established members of the excellent staff team here at Kennet."

WBTC has thanked all organisations who have contributed to this scheme.

With a clear increase in apprenticeship numbers so far this year, it is evident that businesses can see the benefits of apprenticeships as part of their talent acquisition and for development of their existing team.

To find out more about how the apprenticeships programme could benefit your business contact Rachel Eaves at rachel@wbtc-uk.com.