News from Capital Training Group and Merton Chamber of Commerce
For immediate release 9 September 2014.
Partnership Aims to Boost Numbers of Apprenticeships in London
Help is at hand for London training providers to increase the number of
Apprenticeship places across the capital.
Capital Training Group Ltd in partnership with Merton Chamber of Commerce
have successfully been awarded a contract to disseminate good practice and
develop a staff training toolkit to help training providers within the Further
Education sector to engage with employers and increase the number of
Apprenticeships offered by London’s small and medium sized businesses.
The Apprenticeship Staff Support Programme (ASSP) project is managed by
the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) which is
commissioned and funded by the Education and Training Foundation. The
ASSP contract for London builds on the good practice developed by Merton’s
Economic Wellbeing Group and Merton Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Take One’
campaign that has created over 150 new Apprenticeship places through
brokering a partnership between businesses, training providers and young
people.
Shirley Woodcock, Business Development Manager at Capital Training Group
said: “Our innovative training offer combines the insights gained from Merton
Chamber’s highly successful ‘Take One’ campaign together with an online
toolkit developed by the Chamber and Capital Training. This powerful blended
learning model will encourage training providers to review how they work with
employers and help them learn new techniques to achieve long-term
relationships with local employers.”
Merton Chamber’s CEO Diana Sterck is the driving force behind the ‘Take
One’ initiative. For the ASSP London project Diana will be sharing her
experience of boosting Apprenticeship numbers locally. “Employer
engagement, particularly among smaller businesses, has long been a
challenge in creating Apprenticeship opportunities,” she said. “Increasing the
number of Apprenticeships is one of the top priorities to help address the
employment and skills needs of London. In addition, new plans are being
developed to put employers in the driving seat by giving them control over the
funding of Apprenticeship training, which means there is no better time for the
capital’s training providers to improve and develop their relationships with
business.”
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Paul Warner, AELP’s Director of Employment and Skills and Chair of the
ASSP Steering Group, said: “In recent months, the government has proposed
a number of significant reforms which will fundamentally change the
relationship between employers, the government and those who educate and
train apprentices. For providers to respond to this challenge, it is crucial that
practitioners and the wider apprenticeship workforce receive the support and
resources needed to continually improve engagement with employers and
continue to drive up the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. The
Apprenticeship Staff Support Programme seeks to do just that and the
London project is a fantastic response to the meeting capital’s growing skills
needs as the economy recovers.”
Staff from London colleges and training providers are invited to attend one of
four ASSP training events taking place in October 2014. The project aims to
recruit and train 48 employer engagement practitioners who will then be
equipped to disseminate learning within their own organisations.
The ASSP training events, which run from 09.00 -14.00 are planned to take
place on the following dates and venues:
14 October South Thames College, Merton campus.
15 October Westminster Kingsway College, Victoria campus.
21 October Barking and Dagenham College, Rush Green campus.
22 October London Metropolitan University.
For more information and registration for training providers visit
www.mertonchamber.co.uk/events
-ends
Press contact: Felicity Otterson, Loud Communications Ltd, Tel: 07770 227216
Email [email protected]. www.Twitter.com/loudscouser
Editors’ Notes
1. About Capital Training Group
Capital Training Group (CTG) (http://) is a private training company based in Wimbledon and
Wales delivering funded training on behalf of the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). The company
has successfully delivered post 16 education and employability skills for over three years
achieving considerable success for local employers and their staff. The company not only
delivers Apprenticeships but also employs four Apprentices across its group of companies.
Website: www.capitaltraininggroup.co.uk Twitter: @CTGWimbledon
2. About Merton Chamber of Commerce
Merton Chamber of Commerce is a limited company and non-profit making organisation
which was set up in 1992. Its overall objective is to protect and develop the interests of the
business community based in the London Borough of Merton, South London.
Merton Chamber of Commerce is also a business support agency and has a customer base
of around 4000 businesses. Services include a business Helpdesk, business development
workshops, one to one business advice, a Go Green service, help in raising finance as well
as in the recruitment and support of young people.
Website www.mertonchamber.co.uk Twitter: @MertonChamber
3. About the Association of Employment and Learning Providers
The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) is the leading trade
association for vocational learning and employment providers in Britain. The majority of its
660+ members are independent private, not-for-profit and voluntary sector training and
employment services organisations. Membership is open to any provider committed to
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quality provision and it includes over 30 FE colleges involved in work based learning. AELP
Members deliver 70% of England’s Apprenticeships, and are also at the forefront of
traineeship and Study Programme delivery. Website: www.aelp.org.uk Twitter: @AELPUK
4. About The Education and Training Foundation
Set up to improve professionalism and standards in the further education and skills sectors,
The Education and Training Foundation sets professional standards and provides support to
ensure learners benefit from a well-qualified, effective and up-to-date professional workforce
supported by good leadership, management and governance.
Website: www.et-foundation.co.uk Twitter @E_T_Foundation
5. About the Apprenticeship Staff Support Programme (TSSP)
The Apprenticeship Staff Support Programme was commissioned to 'Develop staff to achieve
the best outcomes for learners'. The Education and Training Foundation made £717k of
funding available as part of Phase 1 for the design and delivery of innovative and high quality
professional development support, resources and materials which can be
accessed by, and will benefit, the wider education and training workforce in order to improve
outcomes from Apprenticeship programmes for learners and employers. The programme is
managed by AELP, along with programme partners AoC, HOLEX, 157 Group, NIACE, and
the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.
Website: www.aelp.org.uk/topics/details/assp and www.apprenticeship-staff-support.co.uk
Twitter: @AELPUK
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