In his campaign to boost employment opportunities, London Mayor Boris Johnson has allocated £1.5million to help local SMEs to take on young apprentices.
Normally across the country, employers can apply for an incentive payment of £1,500, but now in London, that payment has doubled to £3,000. This boost could create a thousand more apprenticeships in the capital.
The Mayor has recently launched a concessionary travel scheme for apprentices, entitling them to save up to 30% of the cost of travel in London.
Working with the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) the Mayor has seen more than an hundred thousand apprenticeships established in London since 2010, and he's set a target of a quarter of a million by the end of 2016, saying: “Small and medium-sized businesses are the lifeblood of the capital’s economy and central to providing employment opportunities for talented young Londoners.
"Companies that have already taken on apprentices know the difference they can make to the bottom line and so we want to encourage more firms to get on board.
This incentive is aimed specifically at SMEs and I’m urging company bosses from all corners of the capital to check out how it can benefit them and the wider London economy.”
London Policy Chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses, Sue Terpilowski, says: “The Federation of Small Businesses supports the move to increase the employer incentive for taking on an apprentice to £3,000.
Small businesses are keen to take on staff, especially apprentices, however the costs of operating in London act as a deterrent which is why we have long argued for the smallest businesses in the capital to be recompensed for employing staff.”
NAS Divisional Apprenticeship Director for London and the South East, Vic Grimes, says: “Apprenticeships deliver for businesses, young people and the economy which is why we work extremely hard to help employers in the capital to expand their apprenticeship offering.
"There has never been a better time to recruit an apprentice and we are delighted to welcome the additional incentive now available to SMEs in London, which will go a long way to achieving the Mayor’s ambition of creating 250,000 more Apprenticeships by 2016.
“I hope more organisations will now be encouraged to consider the benefits offered by Apprenticeships and reap the rewards of a more motivated, skilled and qualified workforce.”
