Both Liverpool & Sefton and St Helens chambers of commerce have a strong record of delivery of apprenticeships in their respective area and believe this deal will strengthen the offer

Liverpool & Sefton Chamber of Commerce has joined forces with St Helens Chamber to deliver apprenticeships across the Liverpool city region.

Both chambers have a strong record of delivery of apprenticeship with Liverpool & Sefton having had more than 350 trainees in placement with local firms over the past year.

The new deal will see the delivery of apprenticeships and other training opportunities into St Helens Chamber, which will operate its service from its existing St Helens base

It will also have an operation at Liverpool & Sefton Chambers’ offices at Old Hall Street in Liverpool city centre.

As a result of the partnership, St Helens will deliver qualifications to apprentices previously attached to Liverpool Chamber Training, the training subsidiary company of Liverpool & Sefton Chamber.

Existing Liverpool Chamber Training staff and apprentices will transfer to St Helens Chamber so there will be complete continuity for existing apprentices.

Neil Ashbridge, chair of Liverpool & Sefton Chamber, said: “Liverpool Chamber Training has delivered apprenticeship qualifications to learners for more than 30 years.

“This partnership with St Helens Chamber will provide our collective members with an excellent joined-up service that serves apprentices across the region with outstanding quality and prestige.”

The portfolio of training services will provide opportunities for local businesses to use the chambers as their preferred training partner, particularly as organisations seek guidance about how to spend their apprenticeship levy funds wisely.

Kath Boullen, chief executive of St Helens Chamber,  added: “We were rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted for the personal development we provide for our apprentices, which is an important focus of our approach.

“We’re particularly excited at the prospect of broadening our delivery to companies attached to Liverpool Chamber and to supporting businesses in extracting maximum value from their apprenticeship and training budgets.”

Businesses interested in either employing apprentices or up-skilling their own staff members can contact St Helens Chamber on 01744 742333.