Leicester training firms set to close as owner proposes ‘fundamental changes’
Two Leicester training firms are set to close after their parent company announced plans to cut 300 jobs.
NCG, England’s largest college group, says it will shut Intraining and Rathbone Training, which share an office on Humberstone Gate in Leicester and have outlets throughout the UK.
Rathbone re-opened in Leicester in 2017, a year after it closed its previous centre in the city as part of a restructure.
The firms look after some 4,500 trainees, of which two-thirds are apprentices.
In a statement, NCG said: “We have opened consultation with Intraining and Rathbone staff on some fundamental changes to the way in which we operate in England, including the closure of our network of training centres and a radical refocussing of our apprenticeship proposition.
“If we proceed as currently proposed following consultation, we will in future operate a single, smaller, digitally-enabled business focussed on delivery of high-quality apprenticeships for the tech, management and professional occupations.
“That future operation will be closely aligned with the Group’s overall mission and values – working closely with NCG colleges to enrich its proposition and generate bottom-line benefits for clients and learners.
“Intraining and Rathbone accounted for less than 20% of Group revenue in 2017/18. The changes we are proposing will strengthen NCG’s already robust position, supporting our ambition to invest in teaching, learning and facilities.
“The unfortunate effect of these proposals would be substantial redundancies in Intraining and Rathbone. We will confirm our future plans once the consultation has concluded.
“In moving forward, we will put the interests of learners first and support them to finish their programmes wherever possible.”
The NCG group includes Newcastle College, Newcastle Sixth Form College, Lewisham College, Southwark College, Carlisle College, Kidderminster College, West Lancashire College, Rathbone Training and InTraining.
