Learndirect rescued by training firm
Sheffield-based adult education and apprenticeship business LearnDirect has been bought by Britain’s biggest provider of apprenticeships and training services.
Dimensions Training Solutions, based in Leicester, is set to take over Learndirect in a deal which will save 1,000 jobs – including its head office at Sheffield and other sites in Leeds.
LearnDirect, which is owned by private equity firm LDC, has been close to collapse since last summer and has been warned that funding from the Department of Education will disappear from July.
Speaking to FE Week, Wayne Janse van Rensburg said: “The acquisition of Learndirect has protected the future of the Learndirect group and its learners and apprentices.
“We have the building blocks through which to deliver a service of the highest quality and respond to the ever changing face of the skills and apprenticeship market.”
Last August, Learndirect was slammed as “inadequate” by Ofsted. The verdict, which Learndirect attempted to block, was released after the High Court overruled an injunction against its publication.
Subsequently, the Government scrapped all its contracts with the firm. Around 1,600 jobs were said to be at risk across the business at the time, which has offices across the UK.
According to Sky News, LDC has been keen to offload the company while it is still trading, and had been in talks with Nottingham-based recruitment and training giant Staffline up until last week.
DTS is run by chief executive Wayne Janse Van Rensburg and managing director Lucy Townsley. The company’s website reads: “We have built our business on good people and innovative technology. Our OFSTED rating of GOOD reflects our continuing commitment to offering learning opportunities of the highest quality.”
