Funding handed down to the Leeds City Region from the Government is available for businesses to invest in workforce skills.
£17.5m has been secured from the Government’s Employer Ownership of Skills scheme (EOS). The money is available in grants of £500 – £50,000 to SMEs to invest in the skills of their workforces and aims to address skills shortages in key sectors that offer the greatest opportunities for economic and employment growth, such as manufacturing, construction, digital, hospitality and medical technology.
The LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) is establishing a new service to finance employers’ skills requirements and ensure SMEs are fully equipped with the resources needed to develop a skilled workforce. Businesses will have support to source the most appropriate training and providers to suit their skills needs and help identify what funding opportunities are available to support business investment. Guidance will be available to support employers through what is finally acknowledged as a complex market for sourcing provision.
Help is already available and the LEP is working with West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and others to deliver the service to business.
For more info, visit here or call 0113 386 1910
Roger Marsh, chairman of Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership, said: “This is a step change in addressing the skills needs in the City Region and will help improve business competitiveness across our diverse growth sectors. This funding commitment confirms the trust government places in our City Region; recognising our achievements of creating more and better jobs for our residents and acknowledging our ambition to work collaboratively with employers to drive the skills agenda.”
