The apprenticeship incentive scheme, which offers up to £4,000 to employers who recruit an apprentice, was the perfect solution for Crytec Ltd, a growing small family business. The company, who are based in Clay Cross in Chesterfield, sell machinery for construction, forestry and manual handling. They were considering ways to grow their team as demand for their products and services increased over lockdown.
The recent boom in home improvement and outdoor work saw their turnover double. Although they knew they needed to expand their team they were undecided and cautious about the best way to do that in the current economic climate. When the government announced the apprenticeship incentive scheme they saw the perfect opportunity to develop a young person in the business and get the help they needed to meet demand.
Matt Cryans, director at Crytec Ltd told us about his experience of recruiting his first apprentice with Learning Unlimited and making the most of the incentive scheme.
“We were considering ways to expand the team to support the growing business. When the government announced the incentive scheme it swayed the decision to take on warehousing apprentice. The scheme covers a decent proportion of an apprentice’s wages so it gives you confidence to recruit. The extra bit of funding certainly helps you to make the move to grow the team when things feel a bit uncertain.”
“The team at college made it easy to apply for the funding and supported me through the steps of taking on an apprentice too.”
“It has already been a really good move for us. After just 6 weeks of welcoming our first apprentice, Jack, we are already seeing the benefits. He is helping us out a lot and he is doing really well. I can see him being here a long time and moving on to full employment or doing the next level apprenticeship.”
“I will definitely be looking for other opportunities to expand the team with more apprentices in the future. Especially now the bonus payment has increased since we recruited Jack!”
Apprenticeship experts from Learning Unlimited, part of the Chesterfield College Group, are helping businesses like Crytec to make the most of the apprenticeship bonus scheme. The new government scheme, which started at the beginning of the month, provides an incentive to businesses to develop their workforce and helps employers build for the future as the country starts the next phase of lockdown easing.
Our experienced team is helping employers, large and small, to find the best candidates for their apprenticeship vacancies from a talent pool of students and applicants ready to find their next step in the world of work. They are also helping businesses navigate the recruitment process and the paper work, supporting the apprentice and employer throughout the apprenticeship.