Hundreds of apprenticeships to be created following Mayor’s announcement

Hundreds of people from across the Local London sub-region will benefit from new apprenticeship opportunities following an announcement by the Mayor of London.

Local London, a partnership of councils across east and south London, has successfully secured an ‘Apprenticeships for Londoners’ pilot project.

The programme will support smaller businesses in Greenwich, Havering, Newham and Waltham Forest to create apprenticeship opportunities in emerging and established industries, including digital technology and life sciences.

 The Mayor of London is providing funding to the project with those four participating boroughs contributing a portion of their apprenticeship levy – a charge placed on larger businesses. The money will be used to support smaller businesses explore apprenticeship opportunities for new employees and upskill existing employees.

Julian Ellerby, Director of Local London, said: “Today’s announcement is excellent news for people and businesses in our sub-region. This pilot provides a real opportunity to increase apprenticeships in a range of employment sectors, and to develop a successful model for larger businesses to share some of their levy funding with smaller employers.”

The Local London pilot will work across seven of the key employment sectors identified in the Mayor of London’s Skills for Londoners Strategy: Advanced Urban Services, Life Sciences, Cultural & Creative Industries, Financial and Business sector, the Low Carbon sector, the Tech and Digital sector, and Tourism sector.

The pilot is due to start in April this year and will run for three years. During this time, it will aim to create 360 new apprenticeships– both from new recruits and from upskilling opportunities for existing employees.