Serco donates over £2.5m to support apprenticeships and boost job opportunities across England

As National Apprenticeship week shines a light on the positive impact apprenticeship programmes have, 54 small and medium size businesses (SMEs) across England are benefiting from a £2.79m funding boost, donated from the company’s unspent apprenticeship levy fund.

Serco’s funding is supporting the training and development of 261 apprentices of which Transport & Logistics will train the highest number (70), with Care Services second (66) and Engineering and Manufacturing industries, third (64). 

The process of ‘levy gifting’ is when a company can donate up to 50 per cent of its surplus levy towards funding apprenticeships for SMEs that might not be able to afford to themselves, instead of returning the funds to HM Treasury. 

The regional distribution of Serco’s donations are as follows:

• North-West (£1,091,000) - 118 apprentices with 10 SMEs
• West Midlands (£425,000) - 40 apprentices with 12 SMEs
• South-West (£451,879) - 26 apprentices with 6 SMEs
• South-East (£363,404) - 28 apprentices with 14 SMEs
• North-East (£325,000) - 15 apprentices with 2 SMEs
• East Midlands (£75,972) - 15 apprentices with 6 SMEs.
• Yorkshire and the Humber (£87,000) - 5 apprentices with 2 SMEs.
• London (£129,000) - 15 apprentices with 5 SMEs.
• East of England (£71,000) – 12 apprentices with 3 SMEs.

Eight employment sectors in England will receive a levy donation from Serco:

• Engineering and Manufacturing receives £1,548,000.
• Transport and logistics receives £500,000.
• Care Services receives £317,466.
• Education and Childcare services receives £252,660.
• Health and Science receives £134,000.
• Digital services receives £15,000.
• Charity services receives £20,000.

Shaun Stacey, Chief People and Culture Officer at Serco UK and Europe, said: “Serco’s donation of unspent levy funds to SMEs across England demonstrates our dedication to supporting training and employment to impact a better future. Apprenticeships offer a great start for many people to learn new skills and develop their careers. As a large employer, we take our social value commitments seriously and recognise that levy gifting is a great way of developing talent in key sectors. Without our pledge, these SMEs might not otherwise be able to afford to fund these opportunities.”