Advantage Travel boss Julia Lo Bue-Said has welcomed a pledge by the Prime Minister to create 20,000 more apprenticeships across the UK.

Rishi Sunak announced yesterday that the Government will fully fund apprenticeships in small businesses from 1 April by paying the full cost of training anyone up to the age of 21.

He said: “This will remove the need for small employers to meet some of the cost of training and saves time and costs for providers like further education colleges who currently need to source funding separately from the Government and businesses.”

The Government has committed an additional £60 million of new funding for next year, ‘guaranteeing that where there is demand for apprenticeships from businesses, the Government will ensure there is enough funding to deliver them’.  

From April, the Government will also increase the amount of funding that large employers who are paying the apprenticeship levy can pass onto other businesses, from 25% to 50%.

Last year, Jet2 transferred almost half a million of its levy funds to independent travel agents to allow them to recruit apprentices.

“We see apprenticeships as playing an incredibly important role across the UK outbound travel industry,” said Advantage CEO Julia Lo Bue-Said.

“They are a great way to ensure we get new diverse recruits attracting and inspiring new talent at a grass roots level. 

“The Governments promise of a series of reforms that include fully funding training for young people and cutting red tape for small businesses will be really beneficial and we’re looking forward to seeing the impact they have.” 

She added that Advantage had already hit the target it set last August of 50 new apprentices joining its members within 12 months.