Recruitment company to offer surplus apprenticeship funding to other businesses

Encore Personnel, which employs more than 200 staff and operates 10 branches across the region, is to offer its surplus apprenticeship funding to other businesses and charities this festive season, in a bid to help tackle the growing skills gap in the UK.

Encore, headquartered in Leicester, specialises in warehousing, manufacturing, logistics and engineering recruitment and currently has a surplus apprenticeship levy pot of £93,000 – the equivalent of approximately 18 apprenticeships.

Government rules on apprenticeships state that a business can transfer up to 25% of its annual levy funds to any company or charity, regardless of whether they pay the levy themselves.

Company learning and development manager at Encore, Nikki Westwood, said: “As an apprenticeship levy payer, we have found in practice that we accrue more funds than we can spend on internal apprenticeships each year and as a passionate advocate of the power of apprenticeships done properly, we want to make as many businesses as possible aware of our surplus pot so that we can help them bring new talent into their organisations too.

“The levy is brilliant for several reasons, namely that it enables companies to fund apprenticeships so that they can upskill their staff and in doing so, bridge the skills gap. But it also means that bigger businesses can support smaller businesses by transferring any unspent funds, which is exactly what our Directors have decided we should do. It is the first time we have offered our levy pot to other organisations, so we’re eager to see the level of interest and variety of enquiries that come in.”

Established in 2001, Encore Personnel operates 10 branches and 22 managed services sites across the Midlands.

It employs more than 200 staff and places 4,000 workers each week, and along with driving, also specialises in warehousing, manufacturing, logistics, and engineering recruitment.