Top Midlands training provider Performance Through People (PTP) has warned employers to act before the end of March to secure £3,000 grants for hiring new apprentices.

PTP, part of the BCTG group, is urging employers to start new apprenticeships before the extended deadline of 31 March so they do not miss out on the incentive scheme launched by Chancellor Rishi Sunak last year as part of his £500 million jobs support package.

PTP is also reminding firms that have already taken on a new apprentice between 1 October 2021 and 31 January 2022 must apply for the £3,000 payment before the deadline or they may not qualify.

Gill Durkin, business executive at PTP, said: “We are reminding everyone that March is the deadline for employers to claim their £3,000 incentive for any apprenticeship start that was employed between 1 October 2021 and 31 January 2022.

“It’s a great scheme as anyone who has been signed on to an apprenticeship programme can be claimed for before 31 March 2022, but once that deadline is gone the grants will be difficult to access.

“Remember, these £3,000 grants are for every single apprentice signed up, and they can be related to new trainees of any age, working for any level and at any standard, so they could add up to some major funding for organisations with several apprentices.”

PTP is a key partner in the hugely successful Ladder programmes in the Black Country, Staffordshire and Greater Birmingham, encouraging more companies to increase their involvement in apprenticeship schemes.

Ms Durkin explained that PTP was already dealing with a surge of more than 70 employers’ applications for the £3,000 grants, and that recently three claims had come in on the same morning.

She added: “With less than three weeks to go, employers should act now and we are only too happy to support businesses in any way that we can.”

For information on apprenticeships and accessing the incentive scheme, contact PTP Training by emailing skills@ptp-training.co.uk or telephoning 03332 408302.

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For further information, please contact:

Gill Durkin, Business Executive

Phone: 01543 460050  Mobile: 07734 814905

Email: gill@ptp-training.co.uk

www.ptp-training.co.uk

Prepared and issued by ASAP PR – 07990 978257.

Note to editors:

PTP Training Ltd is part of the BCTG Group, a West Midlands-based training organisation which supports almost 10,000 young people and adults each year.

The group has ten sites in Birmingham, the Black Country, Staffordshire and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and also includes The Apprenticeship Works, BCTG Ltd, Eurosource Solutions and Further Training.

Overall, the group offers 166 different types of apprenticeship, 84 different adult upskilling and reskilling courses and 27 pre-apprenticeship programmes for 16 to 18-year-olds. These include everything from healthcare and early years care to construction, engineering, manufacturing and logistics, through to business skills in IT, management and team leading.