A higher than average number of businesses in Northamptonshire are taking on young new talent through apprenticeship schemes, but the Government needs to do more to ensure this positive trend is sustained if the region’s growing skills gap is to be addressed, warns financial and business advisers Grant Thornton.
A recent poll conducted by Grant Thornton found that 39% of Northamptonshire’s businesses questioned currently run an apprenticeship scheme, offering work-based training for 16-24 year olds, with a further 18% considering doing so in the future.
A higher than average number of businesses in Northamptonshire are taking on young new talent through apprenticeship schemes, but the Government needs to do more to ensure this positive trend is sustained if the region’s growing skills gap is to be addressed, warns financial and business advisers Grant Thornton.
A recent poll conducted by Grant Thornton found that 39% of Northamptonshire’s businesses questioned currently run an apprenticeship scheme, offering work-based training for 16-24 year olds, with a further 18% considering doing so in the future. This compares to fewer than one in ten companies nationally.
To help tackle this imbalance and upskill the UK’s workforce, Grant Thornton is calling on the Chancellor to introduce measures in next month’s Autumn Statement to encourage more businesses to adopt apprenticeship schemes as part of their recruitment plans.
Amanda Stapleton, Senior Tax Manager at Grant Thornton’s Northamptonshire office comments: “The UK skills shortage has been identified by business leaders as a major bottleneck for future growth. This is highlighted by our poll which found that almost half (49%) of Northamptonshire companies surveyed said there is insufficient talent available locally to help move their business forward.
“One solution we continue to support is for businesses to take on more apprentices. It’s great to see so many Northamptonshire companies already realising the benefits that new young talent can bring, but more businesses need to be encouraged into action.
“A small incentive may be all that is needed to improve this situation. We would like to see the Chancellor abolish NIC for all apprentices as we believe it would increase the number of businesses offering high quality training opportunities.”
Grant Thornton’s poll also found that almost half (45%) of all new jobs created by Northamptonshire companies over the next six months will be at either apprentice (25%) or graduate (20%) level.
Amanda Stapleton concludes: “As the economy continues to improve and businesses begin to create more jobs, it makes sense to groom fresh, young talent into the workforce of tomorrow rather than search for skills which may not be there. Recruiting apprentices undoubtedly benefits businesses by helping to create a culture of dynamism, improving productivity and encouraging growth. We hope the Chancellor will see sense in next month’s Statement and take the necessary steps to help more businesses invest in equipping people with the right skills for today’s market.”