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Skills


Sector Focus


Cash in on the apprentice levy


West Midlands’ professional services employers are being urged to seize the new apprenticeship levy and stake a claim to any funds they may be entitled to. According to Suzie Branch-


The award-winning online college may only exist in the virtual world, but it has just signed up its two millionth user Access to online learning


A college of learning that only exists in the virtual world has just achieved the major milestone of its two millionth online learner. The Virtual College provides online


learning content and training delivery solutions, and its two millionth learner has been achieved in the organisation’s 20th year in business. Elaine Hankinson, partnership manager at Virtual


‘The accessibility of on-line training makes it the simple choice for businesses who need flexibility, value and quality’


College, said: “We are proud to be working in partnership with Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and look forward to bringing the benefits of online learning to its members.” At the international ‘E-Learning Awards’, Virtual


College collected four awards including gold for ’E- learning Development Company of the Year.’ The company has ambitious plans to reach 20 million learners by 2020. The courses the college offers include retail,


manufacturing, construction, hospitality, professional


services, healthcare and education. Chamber Skills Hub manager David


Tomalin said: “It is fantastic for Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce to be working in partnership with an award winning and high quality organisation such as Virtual College to deliver a raft of on-line training courses. The accessibility of on-line training


makes it the simple choice for businesses who need flexibility, value and quality. “As Premier members of the Chamber Group, Virtual


College have been quick to recognise the value of connecting with many other businesses in the region and it has been a pleasure to welcome them to many Chamber events recently. I am sure the partnership will go from strength-to-strength.”


The courses can be accessed here and the password for members to have the discount applied is BCC10. elearning.birmingham-chamber.com/


Haddow, director of the Greater Birmingham Professional Services Academy at BMet College, just three per cent of West Midlands companies expected to pay the levy are from the financial, legal and insurance sector. Nationally, the figure is 18 per


cent, even though Birmingham has the UK’s youngest population and the fastest growing workforce likely to join this sector between now and 2020. Suzie said: “The levy presents a


real opportunity for employers to diversify their workforces by recruiting a mixture of university graduates and technically-skilled apprentices. “These new apprenticeships are


expected to be worth £105 million to Birmingham, so our professional services sector should be thinking seriously about how to gain the best returns from this through their future recruitment strategies.”


May 2016 CHAMBERLINK 49


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