More than a third of mid-sized businesses in East Anglia (34 per cent) are struggling to hire apprentices due to a lack of funding, according to survey of the sector from BDO. It showed that businesses in the region would like to hire more apprentices but lack sufficient resources or the guidance to do so and a quarter of firms want to see greater support from a future government to resolve staff or skills shortages, including reform to the Apprenticeship Levy.
Only one in five respondents regularly hire apprentices through the Apprenticeship Levy, with high costs and a lack of guidance cited as the main barriers. But nearly one-fifth of regional businesses said they would increase hiring if they could work more closely with local schools and colleges. The survey also showed variations between sectors; many real estate and tech and media firms say they would hire apprentices if they had more guidance on starting a programme.
Peter Harrup, head of BDO in East Anglia, said: “As we celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, the importance of apprentices to the economic growth of the region and UK as a whole is not lost on anyone, least of all the businesses at the heart of our economy. These businesses are responsible for more than 8 million jobs, the equivalent of one in four across the UK and, with the right level of targeted support, together we can help them kick start their hiring – boosting the number of high quality opportunities on offer to younger generations and providing the skills East Anglia so desperately needs.” BDO is recruiting nine apprentices in East Anglia across the firm’s Cambridge and Ipswich offices. (See National Apprenticeship Week news stories below.)
