New restoration apprenticeship wins funding
Heritage Engineering scheme is go!
The Government has given the green light to fund 90 per cent of training costs for anyone joining a business as an apprentice specialising in historic vehicle restoration.
The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) has rallied more than 100 organisations, including Jaguar Land Rover, Bicester Heritage and Barnet & Southgate College to get involved in developing a new historic engineering apprenticeship and it has already had its initial outlines approved.
The federation said approval of the scheme is a vital step in helping recruit the 1000 jobs needed in the restoration industry just to cover those retiring.
A new website has gone live today to kick-start a recruitment drive – see vehiclerestorationapprenticeship.org.
The ‘trailblazer’ group, made up of manufacturers, colleges and museums is now working on getting second stage final approval and is positive of finalising plans before the end of this year.
The apprenticeship funding is open to anyone of any age; employers can still gain access to funding even if their new apprentice already has a degree too.
The Government is funding the apprenticeships with a levy tax on businesses that have payroll costs of over £3 million. This means that most restoration businesses won’t have to contribute.
Paul Chasney, the FBHVC’s director of research, says: ‘We’ve had to make sure Heritage Engineering Apprenticeship (HEA) is differentiated as much as possible from the light vehicle one, because the Government doesn’t want to double up on apprenticeships.’
The HEA covers skills needed for restoration of historic automotive, aero, military, steam and marine applications. Apprentices taking the course will get a grounding in all areas for the first 18 months and then choose where to specialise. Courses can run up to two years across 35 study days that can be done in blocks.
Paul adds: ‘There’s usually a good crossover of interest from across those heritage areas and it gives a good grounding. Those other areas of heritage vehicles would not have been able to build up enough momentum on their own to get approval from the Government, but together it’s a much stronger proposition.’
‘The number of apprentices that can be taken on depends on the demand from employers. We have the colleges that are interested but they need businesses and people to join this apprenticeship so they can deliver it.
‘I urge anyone that is interested in heritage vehicles and understands the problem we have of these skills disappearing, to engage with colleges and employers and to find out more.’