Blackpool and The Fylde College launches 100 apprenticeships drive

The college, which has been helping local people and their employers exceed expectations for 128 years, already collaborates with more than 1,600 business partners across Lancashire and the UK to identify their training needs and then, after co-creating courses tailored to specific requirements, delivering them.

Now ahead of National Apprenticeships Week (February 3 to 9) the college is launching its challenge, to support businesses to hire apprentices or provide apprenticeships to their existing staff.

A spokesman said: “Any organisation with an annual wage bill of £3m or more has already paid for some of its training needs. The apprenticeship levy is part of your taxes, and it can be reinvested into training by an approved apprenticeship provider such as B&FC – meaning there are often no additional costs to upskilling employees or developing apprentices new to your organisation.

"For the majority of professional courses, small businesses only pay a tiny percentage of costs, with the government paying the rest.

"There has never been a better time for businesses to take a fresh look at their workforce and strengthen it to whatever the future holds.

"Statistics speak for themselves. 86 per cent of employers say apprentices help develop relevant skills for their business. The average length of time an apprentice stays with industrial manufacturing company Siemens is 26 years."

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