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Businesses across the country can now bid for a share of a £150m pot to create the training schemes they need to grow their companies, Skills Minister Matthew Hancock has announced.
The fund is the second round of the Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP) which is already giving almost £70m to companies including Nissan, Whitbread and GE Aviation, with projects ranging from extending skills training to local suppliers, to doubling the number of female apprentices.
Government investment in EOP for rounds one and two now totals £250m.
The collaboration between Channel 4, BBC and Creative Skillset will create training, work placements, internships and apprenticeships in production and technology. These will also be extended to businesses in their supply chain, such as independent production companies.
Successful round one projects were announced in September, which included Nissan’s programme to bridge the skills gap for more than 3,600 technical staff, new recruits and supply chain workers involved in producing new models and working with evolving technologies. This will be a crucial contribution to the company’s launch of four new models in the next two years and to the expansion of the North East’s automotive industry.
Matthew Hancock said: “I would encourage businesses – large and small – to be ambitious and innovative in their vision for how the fund can help them grow, from creating new apprenticeship programmes to setting up specialist training academies.”
Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), which championed the vision for employer ownership, said: “We know that there aren’t any quick solutions to creating a highly skilled workforce, but projects such as the Employer Ownership pilot offer a unique opportunity for businesses to collaborate and create ambitious bids which can begin to address skills issues at a sector or geographic level.”
The round two prospectus is now available here and the deadline for bids is 28 February 2013.
