Virgin Media O2 provides £1m for apprenticeship fund

Virgin Media O2 is providing £1 million of its unused apprenticeship levy fees to help smaller businesses hire and train women and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and mathematics roles.

The telecoms group becomes the latest company to create an apprenticeship fund from its leftover fees. In July, Royal Mail made £1 million of its remaining fees available to small and medium-sized businesses. Aldi also pledged £1 million a year in May.

Companies with up to 249 employees, social enterprises, charities and local authorities are eligible for funding. Businesses that receive money can draw down directly from a Virgin Media fund and it will cover the full cost of apprenticeship training.

Philipp Wohland, chief people officer at Virgin Media O2, said: “We know apprenticeships change lives and we’re proud to be opening doors and backing the next generation to create meaningful, long-term opportunities in the communities we serve.”

The apprenticeship levy gift, formally known as a levy transfer, allows employers that would otherwise lose the unused training budget to HM Treasury to transfer up to half of their levy to a different employer.

The levy is a tax on employers with an annual pay bill of over £3 million and was introduced in April 2017 to improve the funding of apprenticeship training. The levy is set at 0.5 per cent of the employer’s pay bill and is collected monthly through payroll taxes.

Other large employers have pooled their unused levy monies into single pots from which smaller companies can draw for their training. In April, the BBC joined a £9.2 million scheme that has funded more than 1,500 apprentices in the Liverpool area. Other local employers that contribute include Liverpool Football Club, Airbus, Amazon, Matalan and QVC.

Clare Smyth, a three-star Michelin chef and social mobility advocate, is acting as a spokeswoman for the Virgin Media O2 scheme. She said: “Doing an apprenticeship changed the course of my life and accelerated my career, giving me the building blocks that got me to where I am today.

“By tackling access and affordability constraints and targeting underrepresented groups, this scheme can make a huge difference to communities across the country.”

For information on how to apply for funding, companies can visit the Virgin Media O2 website, where an apprenticeship talent fund microsite has been launched.