Richard Hyde, training leader, and Claire Thorogood, Director of Apprenticeships, at City of Bristol College standing infront of an airplane
| Categories: Employer news

College offers advice and solutions to employers

City of Bristol College is a proud sponsor of the prestigious Bristol Post Apprenticeship Awards 2018 in the category of Large Employer of the Year. The award category complements the work the College has been undertaking with its employer base, supporting large corporations as well as SMEs to grow their talent through apprenticeships and work based training.

The college’s Business, Partnership and Enterprise team specialises in offering funding advice and training solutions to large employers who are required to pay the apprenticeship levy, helping them to understand the new government policy and improve their prosperity through the creation of a well-trained and competent workforce. The College’s comprehensive portfolio of large business clients includes organisations from a wide range of sectors, including Airbus, Bristol International Airport, Computershare, DEFRA, Brunel Care and many more. In addition, the college works with over 400 SMEs, demonstrating a broad range of skills and expertise it has to support businesses of different sizes.

Claire Thorogood, Director of Apprenticeships and Employer Based Training at City of Bristol College, commented: “Despite the disappointing drop in apprenticeship starts since May 2017, especially those with large levy paying employers, the apprenticeship levy aims to put control back into the hands of employers. It is not surprising that employers are taking their time to plan ahead and consider options arising from the significant changes in apprenticeship funding. Our team of expert business advisors can assist employers with navigating through the apprenticeship reform, ensuring they are maximising their workforce training opportunities in the new era of apprenticeship funding.”

Tony Rooke, Head of Early Careers at Airbus Filton, added: “We’ve worked closely with City of Bristol College for over 8 years now, recruiting and training over 160 apprentices in partnership with the college. We have worked with the College and UWE to design and deliver a very successful aerospace engineering degree apprenticeship scheme, which was the first of its kind in the UK.

“Our apprentices become an integral part of our team and the training they receive from the College is at the forefront of their development. The College’s support in partnering with our apprenticeship programme has been crucial to remaining competitive, creating opportunities and producing an agile workforce for the future.”

City of Bristol College is proud of the achievements of the local businesses and wishes all the entrants, especially those in the category of Large Employer of the Year, the very best of luck. To find out more about the support and advice the college’s Business, Partnership and Enterprise team can offer, email apprentice@cityofbristol.ac.uk or call 0117 312 5250.

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