Training firms set to close putting hundreds of jobs at risk
Up to 300 jobs are at risk at England’s largest college group after it announced plans to close its two private training providers.
NCG says it will shut Intraining and Rathbone Training, which look after some 4,500 trainees, of which two-thirds are apprentices.
Both Intraining and Rathbone have offices in Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
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 Kidderminster College, Newcastle College, Newcastle Sixth Form College, Lewisham College, Southwark College, Carlisle College, West Lancashire College, Rathbone Training and InTraining.
