The NAS (National Apprenticeship Service) has recently announced a new incentive to help employers recruit apprentices within their sector.

The new grant is offering employers an easy way to take on young apprentices. Over the next ten weeks the National Apprenticeship Service will provide up to 5,000 Apprenticeship Grants for Employers of 16 and 17 year olds (AGE 16 and 17). The grant of £2,500 is to enable employers to offer 5,000 new apprenticeship places and take on an unemployed 16 or 17 year old apprentice immediately. The £2,500 grant is in addition to the costs of training which are already met by the National Apprenticeship Service.

The NAS particularly want to support small and medium sized employers who are interested in employing an apprentice for this first time, or who want to employ an additional apprentice over their traditional level of recruitment. In exceptional circumstances, where they can demonstrate that they are overtraining to support small employers in their supply chain or the wider sector, larger employers could be supported.

Our aim is to support employers to offer new and additional places in support of young people. Therefore we are targeting those employers who would not otherwise have been in a position to recruit an apprentice at this point in time or who are able to offer more apprenticeship places than they would otherwise have done.

The incentive called, AGE 16 and 17, is available now.  It, however, is a short-term, time-limited, measure and is available immediately for employers who are able to offer a job opportunity to a young person. The AGE 16 and 17 grant is only available until the end of March. BEST Ltd (Building Engineering Services Training) is able to offer this incentive to employers.

If you are interested or would like to know more information on this incentive, please contact the Business Development Consultant in your area:

Paul Cantor (Northern) 07595 657588

Kevin Mullany (Central) 07595 6575363

Linda Morgan (Southern) 07595 657595

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