Business Skills, the employer training arm of Stourbridge College, is helping local employers secure a grant to take on an apprentice. Based in Kidderminster, Wyre Forest Woodcraft is one of the first small businesses to get a taste for the government’s sweetener grant and is looking to take on two new joinery apprentices in the future.
The company has been building its reputation for quality and customer service since 1996 and is now run by three partners who started to perfect their craft as joinery apprentices – two of which are home grown. With a small, skilled team of employees, most of whom started as apprentices, the company supplies the building trade and the public, crafting bespoke products for new build houses, renovation projects and barn conversions.
Mark Jaynes, Partner, said: “At a time when the economy has dipped, we are continuing to invest and grow our business to provide customers with well designed, quality manufactured products. Myself and my two partners started out as apprentices and at relatively young ages, we now own our own successful, thriving business. The grant on offer is a great incentive for us to continue to grow our own.”
Kim Babb, Executive Director at Business Skills, said: “We train over 500 apprentices every year and work with over 1,000 employers in the region. There’s a £1,500 Apprenticeship Grant on offer for small businesses who take on a new apprentice aged between 16 and 24 and we’re offering a free training course on top of this to any employer who picks up on the offer. The team at Business Skills will help employers recruit the right apprentice and ensure they get the right training.”
Contact Business Skills on
0800 073 0282 or
enquiries@bskills.org for more information about how to access the grant and the free training course.
The Sweet Apprenticeship Deal
Business Skills trains over 500 apprentices every year and is offering small businesses the chance to take advantage of the government’s new £1,500 sweetener grant on offer if they take on a new apprentice aged between 16 and 24 – and they will throw in a FREE training course for a member of your staff and a FREE Health & Safety Skills Check and Organisational Analysis.
Kim Babb, Executive Director at Business Skills, said: “It’s really important that, as a training provider, we offer local businesses employees with practical skills and qualifications that are closely matched to meet their business needs. We are always trying to bridge the gap between what we teach and what the employer needs and our range of apprenticeships are designed with this in mind.”