Business News
Skills support is a victory for region
The Chancellor’s announcement of a new package of support for skills and productivity is an endorsement of pressure applied by the West Midlands business community. That was the verdict after Phillip
Hammond announced that the annual apprenticeship levy transfer facility would rise from 10 to 25 per cent. Mr Hammond also said that he
would consult with businesses about further changes to the levy from 2020, following the slow take-up and employer criticisms. He also announced that the
government’s recent productivity review, to which the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) contributed, found a management skills challenge in the UK’s small business community. In order to address this, £20m will
be invested in networks to enable small businesses to learn from each other and from world leading firms. More than 100 mentors, from companies such as GSK, Amazon, KPMG and Siemens, have already signed up to offer their expertise.
A further £11m will pay for a
management-skills training programme, anticipated to help 2,000 businesses in its first year, with an ambition to train 10,000 people a year by 2025.
‘The voice of the business community is being heard’
Paul Faulkner, chief executive of
the GBCC, said: “We have repeatedly called on stakeholders to increase the flexibility of the apprenticeship levy. These measures, are a positive indication that the voice of the business community is being heard. “It is our hope that by allowing
large businesses to transfer up to 25 per cent of unused levy funds more SMEs will be able to access high quality apprenticeships and close persistent skills gaps. “However, it is crucial that quality
is prioritised over quantity, and that all communities feel equipped to access such opportunities.”
City to host conference
An organisation that supports employee-owned businesses is hosting a conference in the city on 19 and 20 November. The Employee Ownership Association’s (EOA) annual conference will
welcome 700 delegates from a number of businesses who are employee- owned or are in the process of becoming employee-owned. Employee-owned businesses are totally or significantly owned by the
firm’s employees. According to the EOA, employee ownership accounts for four per cent of the UK’s annual GDP, achieve higher levels of productivity and have more engaged, fulfilled and less stressed workforces. Deb Oxley, chief executive of the EOA, said: “Employee ownership is
the fastest growing succession solution for SMEs and family businesses in the UK, providing an effective governance approach for future succession and growth. “With 60 per cent increase in the employee owned sector happening
since the introduction of the Employee Ownership Trust tax incentives in 2013, this trend is expected to continue.”
Conference call: EOA’s Deb Oxley
The Quality of a component reflects the quality of the environment it was manufactured in, we believe in moulding relationships with our customers to give them the best service possible.
At Andel Plastics we have our own Toolroom where we design and manufacture precision injection mould tools.
From a straight forward open and close single cavity, to a multi-impression auto-unscrewing tool - with our expertise in injection moulding we can be sure to design tooling that will give a robust and cost effective component.
We have a range of moulding machines from 20 to 200 tonne and a wide experience of insert and overmoulding as well as post op assemblies.
In 2015 we added a Class 7 Cleanroom to our facilities, which is currently used for packaging of single use instruments. These can be instruments that we have moulded or items supplied by the customer purely for the packaging service.
T: 0121 765 4042 W:
www.andelplastics.co.uk Andel Plastics Ltd // Unit 1 Monarch Trading Estate // 198 Kings Road // Tyseley // Birmingham // B11 2AP
November 2018 CHAMBERLINK 25
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