Member Article

Gloucestershire LEP offer cash incentives for apprenticeships

Gloucestershire LEP has secured £184,000 to help small and medium sized businesses take on an apprentice and drive economic growth.

The LEP wants to encourage more businesses to take on an apprentice for the first time and has secured £184,000 from the government to offer a cash incentive of £1,500 from the National Apprenticeship Service.

Sarah Danson. development manager at GFirst, said: “In the last few years Gloucestershire’s small and medium sized businesses have really stepped up to the plate to take hundreds of apprenticeships across the county.

“In our latest Gloucestershire Apprenticeship Challenge campaign with colleges in Gloucestershire we saw 140 new businesses sign-up to take on an apprentice for the first time and we want that enthusiasm to continue.

“Apprenticeships are key to economic growth and with these cash incentives on offer we see this as a win-win situation for our businesses and hope they will commit to take on an apprentice as soon as possible.”

The Apprenticeship Grant for Employers is open to SMEs in Gloucestershire with less than 250 members of staff recruiting an apprentice aged 16-24, if they’ve not employed an apprentice within the last three years.

In addition, each business can apply for funding for up to three grants, for each apprentice they take on.

Terry Chappell from the National Apprenticeship Service, said: “This initiative from Gloucestershire LEP just shows the importance businesses are putting on apprenticeships and we are delighted to be working with them to offer this opportunity to small and medium sized enterprises in the county.

“At the National Apprenticeship Service we know how important apprenticeships are not only for individuals but also for businesses and we hope Gloucestershire companies will take the opportunity to employ an apprentice and make use of these grants.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .