In line with the Government’s
announcement to increase the funding of vocational training by an extra £222m a
year and create an extra 100,000 apprenticeships across the UK, business
leaders in Greater Manchester are this week calling on the finance industry to
continue saying ‘Yes To Apprenticeships.’
A campaign, managed by Greater
Manchester Chamber of Commerce and its Apprenticeship training provider Skills
Solutions, ‘Yes to Apprenticeships’ has brought together key individuals from
across five business sectors including; Business/Finance, Automotive,
Engineering/Manufacturing, Construction, and Hair Care, to champion the
initiative.
Employers can employ an apprentice from as
little as £5,000 per annum as part of the new Apprenticeship Training Agency
(ATA) initiative.
Standing on the steps of the
Manchester Town Hall, Mark Howden (head of Regeneration, Balfour Beatty
Capital), Bill Shepherd (vice president, BNY Mellon), Mark Smeeton (managing
director, MotorSave Ltd - Swinton), Thor Rooney (manager and senior director,
Nicky Clarke Manchester) and Nathan Bluer (Torkington Engineers), all cemented
their support in helping to raise awareness of the benefits to businesses of
taking on an apprentice and encourage business in Greater Manchester to expand
its already positive response to Apprenticeship programmes.
Speaking
about the campaign, Bill Shepherd from BNY Mellon, said: “More and more
employers are saying yes to appointing an apprentice and we absolutely want to
encourage this across the board. In order to ensure the industry continues to
have highly skilled and effectively trained workforce in years to come, it is
essential that organisations carry on embracing Apprenticeships.
“Saying yes to taking on an apprentice is saying yes to
trained staff, yes to the next generation of talent, yes to Government funding
and yes to the future or your company and industry – so the question is, why
wouldn’t businesses want to say yes?”
Heather Green, director of
Apprenticeships at Skills Solutions, added: “Despite an increase in individuals
signing up to take part in apprenticeship programmes across the region and a
renewed interest in Apprenticeships from within the media, there is still
sometimes a lack of awareness or understanding of what they can really offer.
“The reality is Apprenticeships
offer businesses increased longevity of service, the ability to ‘home grow’
talent and the chance to immerse an individual in the ethos of a business from
day one, which together are without question beneficial to any business
whatever the sector.
“So, by bringing together this
team of ‘champions’ we’re looking to spread the Apprenticeship message far and
wide in the hope that this will empower those that have already said yes to
taking on an apprentice, to encourage other organisations to make a commitment
in considering offering Apprenticeships as a viable business option.”
Recent
research, commissioned by the National Apprenticeship Service, showed that over
80 per cent of people are more likely to use a business if it offers
Apprenticeships to young people.
There is even some talk that public sector procurement might be geared
towards these businesses in the future, offering even more reason to take this
road than ever before.
Businesses that want to
learn more about recruiting an apprentice through the ‘Yes to Apprenticeships’
programme please visit www.gmchamber.co.uk/yes
or email info@yestoapprenticeships.co.uk
