Acorn Engineering Group are pleased to have implemented the Apprenticeship Levy as part of the launch of their new Acorn Academy.
The Acorn Academy is focusing on providing a better structure, consistency, visibility and availability to the training and development of their dedicated employees within the business. The academy will package together all the existing training they provide with additional elements to enhance development and career opportunities within the group.
The introduction of the apprenticeship levy is an opportunity to evaluate the approach to learning and development. There is a recognised skills gap within the maintenance industry and this will continue to grow as more companies are competing for talent in the same sector. To continue with the same level of growth for the business and to reach the target of the business having a 20 million turnover by 2020, investment in employees is a key focus for the Group.
With the introduction of the levy and paying over a percentage of the pay bill into the levy, developing an in-house training academy to the business means they will be able to utilise and draw down funding from the levy pot.
Hayley Smith, Group HR Manager, comments, “It is vital that we have a pro-active approach to learning and development, to retain talented employees and progress individuals within the company. We believe that the academy approach will help us achieve this and further enhance our reputation as a good employer to work for. Our focus is very much on demonstrating to individuals our investment in them, and on succession planning within the organisation”.