£300k handed out to help firms to train up their key employees

HUNDREDS of Staffordshire businesses have received a share of more than £300,000 in grants to help with staff training.

Since its launch in October 2019, the Staffordshire Skills Hub has awarded more than 300 businesses with training grants.

The scheme – which is backed by European Social Fund – matches companies with relevant approved training and provides 48 per cent of funding for the cost, up to a maximum of £5,000.

Skills Hub manager Suzanne Quinn said: “We have helped businesses of all shapes and sizes. Training has never been more relevant as we look to recovery from the pandemic.

“Our team always starts the process with a skills review. We can identify how a business can be improved through specialised training and then we will help to find and fund that course.”

Suzanne added: “Currently we are also offering top-up funding via individual local authorities to fully fund the cost of training to SMES up to £5,000.

“Businesses can apply for funding for any bespoke course not currently funded elsewhere. Training such as CRM courses, accountancy courses, specialised engineering courses are all included. “

Among the 300-plus businesses which have already benefited from the scheme is live chat and business process automation specialists Parker Software.

Daniel Tallentire, operations director at the Knypersley company, said: “We approached the Skills Hub because we needed to train our developers on secure development practices.

“We wanted to access some higher quality training for our team that would enable them to make our product more secure.”

For more information about the funding, call the Staffordshire Skills Hub on 0300 600 1066 or visit www. staffsskillshub.co.uk.