Member Article

Tees Valley scheme aims to create 700 jobs with £7 million funding

A scheme that aims to create 700 jobs in the Tees Valley area has secured £7 million from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund to launch.

The ‘Tees Valley Jobs and Skills Investment Scheme’, which will support Tees Valley businesses looking to grow their workforce.

The scheme offers businesses a 12 month wage subsidy of up to 50% towards the cost of a new trainee, apprentice or graduate of any age.

There is no limit to the number of people that a company can employ, providing the posts are additional and can be sustained for a minimum of two years.

Key sectors of growth that can be funded include advanced manufacturing and engineering, digital and creative, logistics and chemical processing plus supporting business sectors.

To date 43 applications have been approved totalling £724,793 in wage subsidy grants which will create 119 new jobs in the Tees Valley, including 27 graduate posts and 60 apprentices.

The new jobs range from Design Engineers, Marketing Account Managers to Apprentices in Fabrication, Welding, Electrical and Finance & Administration.

Stephen Catchpole, managing director of Tees Valley Unlimited, said: “We are delighted to have secured this funding - it’s set to have a huge impact on the business community within the Tees Valley.

“It’s vital that we are able to support businesses in the area to ensure we can sustain and grow the economy and importantly continue to invest in the workforce.

“We would urge businesses to get in touch to find out if they are eligible as this is a great opportunity and companies will really reap the rewards.”

Laura Woods, director of Academic Enterprise at Teesside University, said: “This scheme is directly helping businesses to grow, and keeping talent in the Tees Valley.

“We see it delivering enormous benefits for companies, graduates and apprentices alike.

“Creating the right opportunities for graduate employment is a major priority, so it’s excellent to see this initiative on track for real success.”

To qualify, businesses must:

a) Be based within the Tees Valley i.e. within the boroughs of Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton on Tees.

b) Be creating a new job(s) that will last a minimum of 2 years.

c) These newly created positions must be full time (minimum 30 hours or 2 part time equivalents).

d) Demonstrate that the new job(s) has an element of training required/provided.

e) Recruit for the job before 30th June 2014 to receive 12 months of subsidy. (Applications after this date can be submitted, but the funding will be pro-rated).

f) Be able to demonstrate the ability to match the wage subsidy with private-sector monies.

If you are interested then visit the Tees Valley Unlimited site for more information.

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