Small and medium sized engineering firms can now apply for government skills funding to help their businesses grow.

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills is offering this funding as part of the UK government’s plan to help put employers “in the driving seat” when it comes to skills, a key part of growth and competition for British engineering firms.

Companies with fewer than 250 employees can now apply for a share of £2.5 million worth of funding from a £10 million match-funding pot to help develop their own company-specific training. Funding applications have been designed for simplicity to streamline access to funds, with successful bidders receiving their funding offer around a month after their applications are submitted.

Skills Minister Nick Boles said:

“A company’s greatest asset is its people and making sure they have the right skills is vital in supporting the long-term economic plan. This funding gives employers the power to unlock the full potential of their workforce by designing and developing training catered to their specific needs. I encourage all small and medium sized engineering firms to consider how they could use this funding to take their business to the next level.”

This fund forms part of a £30 million initiative that will see the government and employers jointly invest in engineering skills. The first two sets of funding were targeted at developing women engineers and improving engineering careers.

This final branch of funding has been aimed at SMEs specifically, with priority access to smaller firms. The minimum funding threshold has been lowered to £10,000 (from the former entry threshold of £40,000), with companies also able to include staff wage costs as part of overall project costs.

Applications are available until 27 February 2015 (or until funds are exhausted) at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employer-ownership-improving-engineering-careers-smaller-companies

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Words: Peter Cribley