Podcasts about Apprenticeship Levy

This weeks episode is an eye-opening discussion on the Apprenticeship Levy, a government scheme that allows small businesses to tap into significant savings on employee training. Claire details how this initiative makes advanced training programs accessible to businesses without hefty costs, explaining how companies can cover only 5% of training expenses, with the government subsidising the rest. This scheme applies widely across various skills and qualifications, transforming perceptions of traditional apprenticeships and offering new avenues for professional development. Whether your company seeks skills enhancement or leadership training, this discussion reveals how this levy can be a game-changer for your business growth strategy. ⭐ Rate, Review & Share this episode with fellow business owners, and let's grow together! ⭐ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter to get Expert Advice Straight to Your Inbox: https://www.profitcashgrowth.com/subscribe   VALUABLE RESOURCES Website LinkedIn YouTube Facebook ABOUT THE HOST: Claire Hancott through Profit Cash Growth helps 6 & 7 figure business owners to increase their profit, improve their cashflow and grow their business using their numbers. As a finance director & chartered management accountant, Claire has nearly 20 years' experience in finance and running businesses of her own. This gives her a unique insight into the information and support business owners need to grow a financially successful business. Claire passionately believes that every business should be run by the numbers because the numbers in your business are telling you a story about what is and isn't working and where your opportunities lie. Claire's mission is to provide insightful management accounts, reports and advice to business owners and support them to make smarter decisions.    *The content of this podcast is for entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.

This week Nick talks to John RobertsJohn began his career as a waiter and kitchen salesman. In 2000, he founded Appliances Online after a friend bet him £1 to start a business. His entrepreneurial journey gained momentum when, in 2014, he led AO World's listing on the London Stock Exchange, which was valued at £1.2 billion at the time. John has stated that he built AO on his personal mottos: "treat every customer like your gran" and "make your mum proud." In 2021, he was ranked 30th in the Financial Times' list of the UK's Top 100 Entrepreneurs, and he has won multiple awards, including the This is Manchester Supernova Award and the Retail Week Retail Activist Award.Over the past year, John has become an advocate for restoring over £1 billion in lost youth infrastructure funding, reforming the Apprenticeship Levy, and exploring solutions for improving the care system for looked-after children. He has said that most of his earnings go to charity. Nick and John discuss his career path, the founding of AO.com and his philanthropy. John book choice was - Invention: A Life of Learning Through Failure, by James DysonJohn's music choice was - Don't Stop Me Now, by QueenThis content is issued by Zeus Capital Limited (“Zeus”) (Incorporated in England & Wales No. 4417845), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) for designated investment business, (Reg No. 224621) and is a member firm of the London Stock Exchange. This content is for information purposes only and neither the information contained, nor the opinions expressed within, constitute or are to be construed as an offer or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities or other instruments mentioned in it. Zeus shall not be liable for any direct or indirect damages, including lost profits arising in any way from the information contained in this material. This material is for the use of intended recipients only.

Tata's £4bn battery gigafactory and a £600m investment in BMW's MINI factory headline big investments and rising orders across manufacturing in 2023. But the pincer effect of high inflation, high interest rates and high demands from recovering OEMs is putting cash pressures on SMEs. Can they get the help they need to service the recovery and benefit from it, asks Will Stirling 2023 was a year of strained recovery for the manufacturing sector. After severe component supply delays caused by fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War, 2023 edged back to normality – or a new, more expensive normal. But as the orders returned, crippling inflation and high interest rates bit hard. Tata Group delivered a wonderful present to British industry and the beleaguered Tory government when it confirmed it would invest £4bn in a new battery gigafactory in England, understood to be Somerset, with a £500m Treasury subsidy. With the near collapse of Britishvolt's plan to build a gigafactory in Blyth and no news of the proposed West Midlands battery plant, the huge investment brings jobs and shows the UK's viability to other volume electric vehicle battery makers. The big question: will the plant manufacture high-value battery components, or simply be a giant assembly plant for parts made abroad? Staying with automotive, BMW announced a huge £600m investment in the MINI factory near Oxford to build electric cars. Production of two new electric MINI models is due to begin in 2026. As well as safeguarding the 4,000 jobs across Mini's two UK sites, it was a relief to many observers who thought that post-Brexit BMW might offshore Mini production wholesale to Germany. It could be interpreted as a strong example of recent efforts, led by Germany, for easier trade arrangements between the UK and the European Union. Sustainability and carbon reduction have returned as the number one business agenda, or number two after surviving inflation. Whatever your politics on fossil fuel and renewable energy, drilling approval of the Rosebank oilfield will also bring hundreds of jobs and a fortune in tax revenue, although the government showed ill-judged myopathy when setting a low guaranteed price for new wind power electricity prices. This meant just a few MW of new wind farm licenses were purchased in the latest offshore wind auction with Greenpeace dubbing it ‘the biggest disaster for clean energy policy in the last eight years'. Also in September, business group Make UK's annual analysis of manufacturing numbers showed the UK is now the 8th largest manufacturing nation in the world. The media and social media went berserk, with ‘8th biggest' setting LinkedIn alight. The UK's margin over the new 9th placer, France, is small and the numbers are fluid, meaning while it's cause for celebration it should not be taken as a long-term sign of ladder climbing. The aerospace industry is recovering strongly. Global aviation capacity should exceed its 2019 record by the end of 2023, as the airline industry returns to long-run econometric trends. Passenger demand recovery as measured by ‘revenue-passenger-kilometres' is, industry insiders say, largely due to the reopening of China's domestic market. Aerospace business group ADS says there is now a record backlog of orders for aircraft and engines – over US$1 trillion out to 2031, meaning aircraft production is ramping up to previously unknown highs. Airbus directly employs nearly 12,000 across all its manufacturing divisions and was on track to hire hundreds more in 2023. The company indirectly supports 79,000 jobs in the UK. “Like many in the industry, Airbus has had to navigate operational complications stemming from lagging post-Covid factors, including availability of material and skilled resources,” is what Paul McKinlay, Senior Vice President and Head of Wing Major Component Assembly, Airbus told MTD exclusively. “[However]… our supply chain is still subject to the challenges of recession, inflation, energy price volatility and of course, geopolitical tensions. Saying that, we have progressed well across all business lines in 2023 and the demand for commercial aircraft remains strong as evidenced by more than 800 orders announced at the Paris Air Show this summer. He adds: “Airbus continues to invest in our supply chain network, spending £3.9bn on goods and services last year in the UK with around 3,000 suppliers right across the country, 50% of which were SMEs. This gives us a solid degree of resilience in our supply chain as we execute our ramp-up on all commercial aircraft programmes (A220, A320 family, widebody family). We announced that we intend to ramp up our A320 wing production in North Wales to an unprecedented 75 aircraft per month in 2026.” All good news, right? SMEs squeezed as production rates ramp-up The flipside of much higher production rates is pressure applied to SMEs in the supply chain – including MTD's readers. “In the supply chain, surviving the Covid-induced downturn was difficult; but as always predicted, for many smaller businesses surviving the upswing, with all the cash demands that brings, is at least as tough,” says industry veteran Andrew Churchill, of JJ Churchill in Market Bosworth. “Having cut employment during the downturn, a fifth of suppliers are now reporting vacancies and they have difficulty recruiting. There are currently 90,000 vacancies in the UK manufacturing sector.” He adds: “This, together with the much higher borrowing costs, higher energy bills, escalating raw material costs and often deferred capex investment means that many of the aerospace primes' suppliers will be the weak link when it comes to delivering the rate ramp-up.” It's a sadly familiar trend – the boom-bust cycle of the industry, while arguably far smoother today than the giddy 1980s-2010s, means SMEs struggle to grow into mid-sized companies with the critical mass and diversification to survive a big downturn without shedding staff and expertise. Despite the high vacancies, manufacturing created a lot of jobs in 2023. BAE Systems is on track to hire more than 2,600 new apprentices and graduates in 2023, a 43% increase on the careers intake in 2022. Manufacturing in the UK still employs 2.6 million people, which has remained reassuringly static for several years. It could be higher if the labour market was blessed with the skills and experience many engineering companies need. 2023 was disappointing for many companies and industry advocates who desperately want an industrial strategy with a long-term, 10+ year horizon. This elusive strategy, and a minister for manufacturing, have been heavily campaigned for on social media by people including Andrea Rodney, Managing Director at Hone-All Precision in Leighton Buzzard. Sadly, and staggeringly, the government “still fails to recognise the damage that the lack of a cogent long-term industrial strategy does to sector investment. The UK is the only major economy not to consider this as important,” Andrew Churchill says. In the automotive industry, all the numbers are up, up, up on 2022 – and praise the Lord. In August, the latest month with complete numbers, total car manufacturing was up nearly 12% on 2022 (to date), and car exports were up 14.4%. Commercial vehicles up 14.4% on 2022 to August, and exports were up 23%. Over 450,00 cars were built here in the first six months of 2023 (Source: all the SMMT). As reported in October, the rapid expansion of clean energy, electric cars and heat pumps means that energy-related CO2 emissions are likely to peak by 2025, according to the International Energy Agency. Lies, damned lies, and statistics. One can always find numbers to support your argument – or discredit it. While recovery is still the watchword for 2023, some numbers tell a different story. Figures and news from automotive, aerospace, medical and oil & gas sectors support the upswing. But the number of companies trading in manufacturing, across all sub-sectors, has fallen in 2023 since 2021 by 3% or 4,265 companies. That's a lot of firms to lose in two years. The biggest category for insolvencies: “Manufacture of fabricated metal products; except machinery and equipment. This is down 15% or a whopping 4,195 companies. It doesn't quite match the message of record order books in aerospace (aircraft and engines) and the storming return in automotive as seen above, as well as the high growth in electric vehicles – 23.2% of all new cars in the UK are either electric or plug-in hybrid,” says ZapMap. The curate's egg: Manufacturing in 2024 So will 2024 fare better than 2023? Paul McKinlay emphasises Airbus' strong pipeline, as it ramps up to 75 aircraft per month. “In being clear and communicative with our supply chain network about this pace, we're laying the groundwork for ensuring quality performance and missing parts reduction.” But he adds: “However, the challenges we've seen in 2023 are likely to bleed into 2024. We need to see greater support for our UK SMEs partners, giving them the financial security they need to scale operations. That's how the UK will be able to drive competitiveness over the next decade.” Andrew Churchill's 2024 glass is half-full, as he concludes: “Despite the ‘curate's-egg' that UK manufacturing represents, I remain optimistic. For the first time in six years, we have climbed the world ranking of manufacturing nations from 9th to 8th – overtaking France, 41% of all UK R&D is from the manufacturing sector and our goods account for an amazing 49% of total UK exports. Just think what we could achieve with a long-term industrial strategy, affordable and secure industrial energy, a full review of the Apprenticeship Levy and a clear path to helping manufacturers de-carbonise!” Just think…. Are you listening Sir Keir Starmer?

Apprenticeship Levy: Upskilling young and diverse talent must be a priority

The Spring Budget was a significant one for business. But there's no rest in our quest for growth – in this episode we talk green growth and skills too.  It's worth reflecting on the Spring Budget on 15 March. After all, there was plenty in it to help firms go for growth. And although it may have been missing some green credentials – at the time of recording – we're expecting to hear more on that front within days.    Joining us for this episode we have Katy Recina, Head of Economic Policy at the CBI, who's trawled through the hundreds of pages of the red book so you don't have to.  As so many of the measures she talks about – from wins on childcare and health support, to frustrations on the Apprenticeship Levy – relate to people and skills, we asked Matthew Percival, Director on our Changing Workforce Programme to join in the discussion. He helps us look back over our Future of Work Conference in early March, bringing in tips and advice from Pheonix Group and Microsoft too. Joining Syma Cullasy-Aldridge, Chief Campaigns Director, CBI, are:  Katy Recina, Head of Economic Policy, CBI  Matthew Percival, Programme Director, Changing Workforce, CBI  In this episode, we mention:  Digital Skills Toolkit  Budget breakdown: what it means for your business 

Thanks for checking in to this weeks episode of The Hedge! I'm keeping things short and sweet today, with a great email from a listener of the show who has a great tip for people looking to level up their career, and a question on car leasing!If you have questions, make sure you get in touch with me at thehedge.ioTo learn more about the Apprenticeship Levy, go here! Get full access to The UK Money Guide at theukmoneyguide.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of the EG Property podcast, EG editor Samantha McClary is in conversation with Ros Goode from Avison Young to talk about talent. The real estate industry offers some tremendous career opportunities but it is struggling to get that message across to a diverse group of potential future leaders. Many firms operating in the sector have their own apprenticeship schemes in a bid to open up the industry to a wider talent base, but during the Covid pandemic, like many other sectors, has been unable to fully utilise their apprenticeship levy pots. But there is a way that real estate can help create careers for people in both real estate-linked sectors and beyond - by gifting a proportion of their apprenticeship levy to SMEs through the London Progression Collaboration. Avison Young signed up to the scheme in March last year and has taken a lot away from being involved in it. Here Goode talks about how the scheme works and why real estate needs to be more joined up when it comes to bringing a wider selection of talented individuals into its workforce.  

Presenter and award-winning business journalist Georgie Frost is joined by Tim Smith, from Multiverse, and Lizzie Crowley, senior skills advisor at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, as they get to grips with the Apprenticeship Levy.Georgie, Tim and Lizzie discuss how the levy works, whether it's actually working and doing what it's designed to do - and if it's not, what can be done to change it.You can find out more about the work of the Homeserve Foundation here.And check out Amazing Apprenticeships and UCAS for up to date information on current apprenticeship vacancies. You can also find out about the work of the CIPD here.Listen, subscribe and leave a rating in all your usual podcast places, and check out the HomeServe Foundation @HSV_Foundation.

If your organisation had a pot of money that could either be used to fund apprenticeships or paid to the tax man, how would you choose to spend it? This week on the Good Practice Podcast, Ross D is joined by two colleagues from Emerald Group, Mike Shaw and Fiona Allison, to discuss the Apprenticeship Levy. We cover: what the Levy is and how it works the extent to which L&D has failed to take advantage of the Levy to fund apprenticeships what it's like to be an apprentice, balancing work and study Show notes For more from us, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit emeraldworks.com. There, you'll also find details of our award winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. If you'd like to learn more about the Apprenticeship Levy, this articles answers some frequently asked questions: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/key-facts-you-should-know-about-the-apprenticeship-levy The CIPD's recent assessment of the Levy's success as a policy can be found at: https://www.cipd.co.uk/about/media/press/010321apprenticeship-levy-reform-budget#gref The VR tool Mike mentioned in 'What I Learned This Week' was Spatial: https://spatial.io/ You can learn more about Greenland sharks at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_shark Connect with our speakers If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers on Twitter: Ross Dickie - @RossDickieEW Mike Shaw - @MikeShawLD Fiona Allison - @EmeraldHRM

In this episode, we are joined by Michaela Reaney, co-founder at The Opportunity GroupThe opportunity group work with organisations to ensure that their existing and aspiring talent are ready for the future of work. They do this by helping clients to maximise their Apprenticeship Levy funds so that they can develop critical skills and change behaviours – for the better and believe that talent is evenly distributed but opportunity is not.During the conversation we talk about:What to expect from this decade and the future of workChange the perception of apprenticeships in the UKTop tips for building a culture of continous learning at workWhat to expect from The Opportunity Group in 2021Over consuming and not implementing

Beanstalk is really proud to be promoting the great team at the Apprenticeship College and their Supply Chain Leader Apprenticeship scheme. They are one of the UK's leading apprenticeship providers and can help you to fully utilise your levy and develop your staff delivering a measurable return on investment. As a team they deliver apprenticeships that prepare people for the future and that add significant value to employers. They adopt contemporary https://www.apprenticeship-college.co.uk/apprenticeships/ (‘Levy compliant' apprenticeship standards) as the backbone of the learning and development programmes and use this to develop and accelerate the growth and learning of your workforce.  Many organisations in the FMCG and Fresh Foods sectors have seen massive changes in the stability and reliability of their supply chain over recent months. While these challenges remain ongoing, the demand from customers is increasing, with more and more people switching to online deliveries. In order to cope with these unprecedented pressures, many businesses are rapidly recruiting new staff into supply chain roles. Meanwhile, more senior staff are being encouraged to take urgent action to boost supply chain efficiency and reduce costs wherever possible. The question is, how do you support this vital team to achieve its goals while growing so quickly? Enrolling your key staff in a Supply Chain Leader Apprenticeship can give them valuable skills to boost the efficiency of your supply chain – and that's vital in today's ever changeable times. And through them you can discover how you could start training right away using existing funds in your Apprenticeship Levy pot. In our unique Beanstalk Broadcast with the team at the Apprenticeship College, we are going to learn how the Supply Chain Leader Apprenticeship scheme really works. We will find out how the expert-led course teaches a wealth of real-world skills that learners can apply in the workplace straight away and all by talking to key experts, hearing from businesses that have seen great “upticks” from deploying proactive training and understanding how the scheme can be funded by your own Apprenticeship Levy pot. We will have on: Tilly Allen – Sales Director at The Apprenticeship College Simon Thomas of The Quantet Group - Key Supply Chain Trainer Mark Burrell - Commercial Director of Moran Logistics Sabre-Louise Inns – Senior Transport Shift Manager – Moran Logistics and Participant of the Supply Chain Programme

Ben and James talk through the NCE's innovative approach to teacher training funded through the #apprenticeshiplevy.Book a call with James to discuss here: https://calendly.com/thegtp Or visit https://www.nationaleducation.college/gtp/graduates to find out how this could benefit your school.

N.B This episode was recorded in early March during a residential training session of level 7 senior leadership masters and we’ve updated the introduction briefly to reflect some changes over the past few months. This week we talk to Nick Heard, former school leader and Learning Experience Manager at The National College of Education, and two participants on the senior leadership masters course - Rachel Lisserman, Head of Year 10 at Northampton School for Girls, and Dane Carton, Vice Principal at St Martin’s Catholic Academy in Hinckley. Nick explains how the Apprenticeship Levy works and how schools can use it to develop their workforce. Nick debunks some of the myths about apprenticeships in general and then we discuss in more detail how apprenticeships can be used to develop existing members of the education workforce, as well as to attract young people into it. We focus particularly on how the  senior leadership masters apprenticeship works in practice and hear from some of the participants about how they’ve found the programme so far.  As mentioned in the podcast, you can contact Nick via @ROptimism on Twitter.

In this episode John Tomlinson talks to Spencer Ayres about the future of work and what it means for L&D Spencer Ayres is an entrepreneur, product designer and educator focused on enabling people to become the best they can be through human and digital experiences. Spencer (link - https://spencerayres.com/) is Co-Founder and COO of Future Builders (Link - https://futurebuilders.co) - who's mission is to make meaningful learning as impactful and easy to access as possible, with the goal of maximising personal and professional productivity.    Prior to this Spencer has started and grown a number of startups, helped large organisations with the people side of digital transformation and was secondary school teacher for 8 years.    Whilst at the coding bootcamp school, Makers Academy, Spencer created and spun out a new company focused on creating the best Technology apprenticeship in the country. This grew from an idea to multimillions in revenue within a year and has now become the main focus for the whole company, supporting hundreds of people to change their careers whilst being paid and utilising the Apprenticeship Levy.    Whilst at Freeformers, Spencer designed and ran multiple transformation programmes across some of the biggest corporates in the country, including the Barclays Digital Eagles programme & a global digital adoption programme for 10s of thousands of HSBC staff.    Spencer is also a fellow podcast enthusiast and has recently launched his own show with Nick Himowicz - The Spen & Nick Show (link: https://anchor.fm/spenandnick) where they talk about innovation, design, learning and business.     

Small and medium-sized businesses across the West Midlands are being encouraged to utilise the West Midlands Combined Authority's Levy Transfer Fund to help fund their apprentices. In this episode, Jess Brookes, press and PR assistant at the Chambers, talks to Jose Lopes, head of business engagement at the Combined Authority, to discuss what the levy fund is and how local businesses can tap into it. 

FE News chat with Lucy Hunte, National Programme Manager, Apprenticeships Talent for Care, with Health Education England about scaling Apprenticeship and T Level delivery at #EPALive in Wembley.The NHS is the largest employer in the UK, with a £200 million Apprenticeship Levy pot. So we asked Lucy to give the sector advice on how to deliver Apprenticeships and T Levels with a large employer with over 350 roles mapped in their organisation, but as the NHS is also made up of 263 NHS trusts and 7000 SME's in the supply chain, how to work with a diverse and complex organisation.Lucy discusses the growth in the volume of starts at the NHS from 8,000 two years ago to 24,000 and nearly 28,000 this year and how the NHS is on track to spend all of their £200M Levy pot this year. With this volume of Apprenticeships starts, we asked Lucy for advice on 20% off the job on this scale of learners. We then went into T Levels and in particular industry placements in T Levels.

In this second episode, recorded with keynote speakers at the Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB) Annual Conference, #SkillsWorld presenter and FAB Chief Executive, Tom Bewick, speaks to Sharon Blyfield, Head of Apprenticeships and Early Careers at Coca Cola Enterprises Ltd. and Lucy Hunte, National Programme Manager — Apprenticeships, at Health Education England, (NHS). Listen to the full discussion here:The podcast explores what it is like for two large Apprenticeship Levy Paying employers to work with England’s skills-system: colleges, training providers, awarding organisations and government bodies. Sharon and Lucy give a frank assessment of the apprenticeship reforms and make suggestions of how the Levy could be improved for both large and small employers in future. The NHS in England employs 1.2 million staff. Each NHS Trust, which operate as quasi-autonomous business units, can employ up to 15,000 people in a particular geographic area. The Apprenticeship Levy paid by NHS England is in excess of £200 million. Meanwhile, the iconic brand, Coca Cola, employs over 4000 staff in the UK. Both these major employers — public and private — have a huge stake in ensuring that the country's education and skills system works efficiently and effectively. Commenting on the current system, Sharon Blyfield, said: “It can be a minefield…. We rely on training providers to tell us what is the right qualification. With that comes its own set of challenges. Because we will always question: why is this the right qualification? What is it going to give Coca Cola? What is it going to deliver for the individual and why do they need that particular qualification?”Lucy Hunte added: “I cannot understand why IfATE is not allowing entry-level apprenticeship roles like Level 2 in Business Administration, unless it is because they know the numbers will be huge, meaning less surplus Levy to use.” On quality assurance of apprenticeships, the current system of multiple regulators checking on quality was described as “ludicrous”. Both representatives of these large employers said they would support a “single overarching body” for quality assurance of apprenticeships.

Chartered Management Accountant James gives information around apprenticeships and how they can benefit businesses across all sectors. He explains the Apprenticeship Levy, implores businesses to increase the wage of their apprentice beyond the minimum (£3.90, increasing to £4.15 in April) in order to retain the good people, and gives some pointers for when an apprenticeship may not be the best choice.

#SkillsSurvey - IET launches its latest Skills and Demand in Industry reportThe IET’s latest Skills and Demand in Industry report, published earlier this week (18 Nov), reveals that 60% of employers report recruitment of engineering and technical staff with the right skills the biggest anticipated barrier to achieving their business objectives over the next three years.FE News catch up with Joanna Cox, Head of Policy at the Institution of Engineering & Technology to find out more about her views on how higher level technical training can help fill the Tech Skills Gap:~How much of a role should employers have in supporting the development of skills that they are finding hard to fill?~How could T Levels help?~How can employers be encouraged to offer industry placements?~How has the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy helped support an increase in higher level technical training, and what are the challenges with this?~Which is more important, bringing in new talent, or upskilling existing staff?Subscribe to the FE News podcast or visit Gavin's Newsroom on FE News

We were excited to have in the studio three senior software developers with whom we talked about all things tech, from how it was when they first got into development to programming languages and what the future holds. Thank you for accepting our invitation: David Wilcock - "I have been writing code in some form, for the last 30 years. Back in the days of rubber keys and azimuth screw is where I learned my love for computers. Went through sixth form college, and come out with a BTEC National in IT. I have learned a number of programming languages over the years, but have always had a fondness for PHP, so have been doing that professionally since 2001. Currently working for Gear4music, as a Principal Developer, and have been there since 2010. I am currently ranked #20 at git-awards.com for PHP in Manchester." Paul Aldred-Bann - "I was very recently employed by AND Digital as a Product Dev. Over the past 4 months, I've started my own thing and am contracting through Equal Experts at HMRC Salford developing a cloud-based platform for EPOS system and blockchain forensics. I'm looking to employ my first apprentice soon, putting them through a 12-week bootcamp via Code Nation and utilising the Apprenticeship Levy." Toby Mason-Barney - "I've been working in software development for around 7 years, mainly been working in .net/C# and the world of Microsoft from desktop applications in the legal sector to AI-based cloud education systems and now I'm working on .Net development for Insight Investment in Manchester mainly in Azure and backend data services. I also have experience with Node.js and Elixir/Erlang, plus I'm slowly trying to learn golang by writing my own programming language with it but it's going slowly... I got into development when doing my computer science degree in Liverpool. Enjoy being in the community, I try (when I have time) to write blog posts on medium, help run Meetups (I helped run CodeUp Liverpool for a while and am hosting/speaking at the next Behind the Buzzword in Manchester)."   Music: https://www.purple-planet.com Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io  

6 years on since the publication of the Richard Review, which ushered in a new approach to developing and delivering apprenticeships, Tom interviews Chinara Rustamova, Senior Policy Advisor Education and Skills, Federation of Small Businesses; and Charlotte Bosworth, Managing Director, Innovate Awarding / Chair, End-Point Assessment Operational Group, Federation of Awarding Bodies. Apprenticeship starts have plummeted by around 20 per cent since the introduction of the Levy and new Standards. Non-Levy small businesses are struggling to access funding for the apprenticeship slots that they are prepared to offer. “Providing 20 per cent off the job training is a real challenge for small businesses… We need to sort the looming challenge of the funding issue”, according to Chinara Rustamova, who authored the FSB’s report, ‘Fit for the Future: Making the Apprenticeship System Work for Small Businesses’. On the challenges faced by end-point assessment organisations (EPAOs), Charlotte Bosworth said: “We need to come together, employers, providers, EPAOs — to come up with a better, more collaborative approach, to delivering high-quality apprenticeships."Topics covered include: ~The barriers faced by small firms taking on apprentices ~The collapse of 16-24 year old apprentices and what can be done about it~Controversy about Level 2 business administration apprenticeships no longer being available ~Whether it is immoral to allow senior managers to access the Apprenticeship Levy to pay for Management degrees ~The future of the Levy~What is required to make a success of the end-point assessment model ~Views from small businesses about the government’s new T-Level programme and awareness levels

In this episode of the podcast we are talking to Manuel Thompson-Oloko, Aspire Apprenticeship Executive at the Chartered Insurance Institute. The Apprenticeship Levy was first announced in the Summer budget 2015, and came into effect on 6th April 2017. Two years on we are speaking to the CII's own apprenticeships expert to find out about the levy. To find out more about CII Radio, and for useful links, please visit thejournal.cii.co.uk/podcasts/

It's largely known that generational differences are an important factor for organisations but a different thing to know what we should do to attract, develop and keep younger talent.   In this episode of The Learning & Development Podcast, David interviews Rowena Bach to discuss on how to handle different generations in the workforce. Learn also about the different challenges that Rowena has seen throughout her career. This conversation explores some of the things L&D teams - and Early Careers specialists - should consider and doing to capitalise on the big opportunities that a good Early Careers strategy can present. They also covered the different trends that companies should watch out for so they can improve their recruitment process and take into mind their senior team members. Discover more about these when you tune in.  KEY TAKEAWAYS  There are two problems that Rowena is trying to solve for organisations:  Macro-level, where your background dictates where you're going  Organisational, recruitment management  It's difficult to handle the team especially if it comprises the 5 generations in the workforce. Each lived a different life that has shaped their values and behaviours right now.  Challenges:  Establishing an inflow of talent  Ageing skill of workforce  (Organisational) Receiving up to 35,000 applications for 100 roles  (Organisational) Low budget  Organisational development and learning and development help the newly recruited people adjust in the workplace.  The new generation base their decision-making process on activism, radicalism, and loyalty, while the baby boomers base it on hierarchy, legacy, and commitment.  Key Trends to watch out for in L&D:  Global skills gap  Impacts of technology on workforce  Access to information  Though the interview might be the most vital part of the recruitment process, it does not envelope everything that we need to know from entry-level talent.  BEST MOMENTS  “Why do L&D professionals and HR professionals stay in this industry? It's because we're in the space that brings something in the business that they don't have time for.”  “Every single one of those is potentially a customer.”  “Every new person that you bring will challenge your organisational dynamic.”  “People have specific reasons why they work.”  “It's almost a fallcy that interviews get you what you need to know about the person.”  “Dealing with equality is not just an ethical imperative; there's so much evidence about how a balanced workforce fastly improves how successful organisations are.”  ABOUT THE GUEST  Rowena Bach is an Early Careers/Future Talent leader with 15 years' experience of setting talent strategies (people and digital), consulting and leading change programmes, and teams, to deliver commercial value.   Prior to this, Rowena was Head of Future Talent at BSkyB following her role as Learning & Development Manager for Disney Consumer Products.  Her current role involves Rowena helping clients get to know the evolving Gen Z landscape, understanding and utilising the Apprenticeship Levy, attracting and retaining diverse candidates in the recruitment process, and ensuring that emerging talent pipelines match the needs of your business.  You can follow and contact Rowena via:  Twitter: @Rowena_Bach  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rowenabach/   Website: http://insights.tmpw.co.uk/u/102f64x/rowena-bach   Article mentioned in the podcast, ‘The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century': https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/global-skills-gap-21st-century-rowena-bach/   ABOUT THE HOST  David James   David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.   As well as being the Chief Learning Strategist at Looop, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D as well as an active member of the CIPD L&D Advisory Board.   CONTACT METHOD   Twitter:  https://twitter.com/davidinlearning/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin/   Website: https://www.looop.co/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

British businesses have begun to lose out on up to £3 billion of unused levy contributions from April 2019. In the fourth and latest episode , Addie Marks and Colin Reeves discuss how businesses can utilise levy contributions to address skills shortages.

The Apprenticeship Levy – Myth Busting Guest Input: Charles Dall’Omo, Train Together In this podcast we unpick the complexity of the National Apprenticeship Programme and discuss how schools can make the most of this funding to recruit new apprentices and to upskills their existing staff. The podcast helps clear up any misconceptions schools may have and provides tips for making this work for their school.

Paul Freeman from GK Apprenticeships tells us about the dangers of the digital skills gap and also what businesses can do about the Apprenticeship Levy. Get more info about World of Learning here www.learnevents.com/

It's National Apprenticeships Week, and Jane Gratton guest hosts as she interviews Sir Gerry Berragan, CEO of the Institute for Apprenticeships, to talk about the Apprenticeship Levy, skills, and training the workforce.

To mark National Apprenticeship Week, Mark Smith from Aston University and Chamber patron & policy advisor Emily Stubbs discuss ongoing apprenticeship reforms, the Apprenticeship Levy and the importance of collaboration between business and education.

TJ editor Jon Kennard interviews Wildfire Learning CEO Donald Clark ahead of publication of Dods Publishing's cross-portfolio Apprenticeship Update supplement. Listen in - he doesn't disappoint,

Headlines: Daily Telegraph UK car production dips -3% to 1.67m cars, the first drop since 2009 Brexit and diesel fears put the brakes on UK car production Motor Trader Big Cars receives offers to acquire assets of the company Car supermarket chain ceased trading due to "unsustainable trading conditions" AM Online Increased administrative burden’ of Apprenticeship Levy blamed for 26.5% decline in new starters Decline in apprenticeship starters in Q1 blamed on red tape burden but automotive sector might be spared the full impact BBC News UK plans 200-mile 'country roads' driverless trial Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi collaborate on ambitious HumanDrive programme with real world testing starting in December 2019 BBC News Riversimple hydrogen car set for summer debut in Wales Real world trials of 10 hydrogen powered cars set to run for 12 months

In April this year the new Apprenticeship Levy came into effect, which means for the first time business with pay bills of over 3 million have to contribute to apprenticeships. It is expected that the Levy will encourage more employers to introduce apprenticeships or expand their existing programmes. In this episode we talk to employers, apprentices and apprenticeship providers to explore what the new world of apprenticeships could look like. What implications will the levy have for businesses and what opportunities could it provide potential candidates? With an increasing number of organisations offering apprenticeships, how can businesses stand out from the crowd? And could apprenticeship extend beyond the traditional 16-25 demographic? Also in this month's podcast, cast your minds back to Ksenia Zheltoukhova and her partner Ryan McKelvey, who were among the mere 7,500 who in the past year decided to take advantage of shared parental leave, a legislation introduced in April 2015 allowing both parents to share a block of fifty two weeks leave after the birth of a child. This month, in their final conversation with us, Ryan and Ksenia sum up the experience after a year full of surprises...

2016 has been a year of change and upheaval socially, politically and economically. From the National Living Wage and the Apprenticeship Levy to Brexit and the US election, events over the past year are set to have a significant impact on work and working lives. In this episode we talk to Margaret Heffernan, Laura Overton and Laura Harrison about the effect these changes are having – and will have – on businesses and their employees and what HR and L&D professionals can be doing to help prepare themselves and their organisations for the year ahead.

Matthew Lewis, employment partner at Squire Patton Boggs, explains the key features of the apprenticeship levy, due to come into force in April 2017. We discuss what it is and how it will impact on levy-paying and non-levy paying employers. We also offer practical guidance on what employers can do to get the most out of the levy. Presenter Laura Merrylees is joined by Matthew Lewis.

Sir Terry Morgan, Chairman of Crossrail – a £15bn project – started as an apprentice. His own experience of the value of apprenticeships is demonstrated with what Crossrail has achieved by providing people similar opportunities to enter the profession. These lessons are probably the key reason the Secretary of State, Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin, asked Terry to develop the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy, published in January 2016. He gives an insight into this, how the UK compares to Germany in apprenticeships, rebalancing education and economy, and how employers should take forward the new Apprenticeship Levy. To listen to this and more as discussed with Justin Ward

Sir Terry Morgan, Chairman of Crossrail – a £15bn project – started as an apprentice. His own experience of the value of apprenticeships is demonstrated with what Crossrail has achieved by providing people similar opportunities to enter the profession. These lessons are probably the key reason the Secretary of State, Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin, asked Terry to develop the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy, published in January 2016. He gives an insight into this, how the UK compares to Germany in apprenticeships, rebalancing education and economy, and how employers should take forward the new Apprenticeship Levy. To listen to this and more as discussed with Justin Ward

Sir Terry Morgan, Chairman of Crossrail – a £15bn project – started as an apprentice. His own experience of the value of apprenticeships is demonstrated with what Crossrail has achieved by providing people similar opportunities to enter the profession. These lessons are probably the key reason the Secretary of State, Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin, asked Terry to develop the Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy, published in January 2016. He gives an insight into this, how the UK compares to Germany in apprenticeships, rebalancing education and economy, and how employers should take forward the new Apprenticeship Levy. To listen to this and more as discussed with Justin Ward

Listen to CBI Director-General's speech on the Apprenticeship Levy. You can read more here - http://news.cbi.org.uk/news/radical-rethink-required-for-apprenticeship-levy/