‘Don’t be put off by complexities of Kickstart Scheme’, urges FIESTA chairman

Gary Baker, the chairmanof the Furniture and Interiors Educations, Skills and Training Alliance, isurging employers in the UK furniture and interiors sector to not be put off bythe complexities of the government’s Kickstart Scheme and work with the alliance’sSkills Plus service to easily take advantage of the initiative.

Kickstart is a new programmewhere an employer can offer a government funded six-month work experienceplacement to a 16-24-year-old currently on Universal Credit and at risk oflong-term unemployment.

The scheme, which waslaunched on Wednesday 2 September, aims to create thousands of jobs in the UK,but businesses are criticising the arduous application process needed toundertake in order to benefit.

Following theannouncement of the scheme, FIESTA is encouraging companies to access Kickstartby working with its Skills Plus initiative. Skills Plus already offersmicro, SME and large employers within the furniture and furnishings sector anaffordable and simplified way to engage with apprenticeships, upskilling andretraining staff, and through its existing infrastructure can assist companiesto employ young people through Kickstart.

Gary Baker, FIESTAchairman, said: “The guidance released has made it clear thatnot only will it be a rigorous application process for employers applying, butthey also need to have a minimum of 30 placements available, which is a hugeundertaking for even large organisations. By working with Skills Plus, employerscan band together to reach the 30 placements required and we will cover theadministration, relieving the burden from the company completely. This is toogood an opportunity for businesses in the industry to miss – six months of subsidisedlabour while providing the individual with skills to help them progress intheir career.”

Carmen Daley, operationsmanager at Skills Plus, added: “Skills Plus is in aunique position in that because of our existing apprenticeship processes andsystems, we can either co-ordinate and act as the representative for a group ofcompanies, or, and probably more appealingly given the list of employerresponsibilities also outlined, we can just employ the kickstart person ontheir behalf.”

For more information orto register your interest, please contact our dedicated Skills Plus servicethrough Carmen Daley: carmen@theapprenticeshipgroup.co.uk or07496 370 224.