Funding announced to train staff and help Welsh SMEs grow

A £45m package of funding aims to help small businesses across Wales to grow and support thousands of people to train to work in key sectors.

As part of the package, £35m will help SMEs to relaunch, develop and decarbonise, helping to drive Wales’ economic recovery.

Businesses will be invited to identify ways in which investment will help them relaunch their business, develop it in innovative ways and create jobs, with the funding administered by local authorities.

An additional £10m is being made available to boost Wales’ Personal Learning Accounts, enabling further education colleges to deliver additional courses which are expected to help 2,000 people access job opportunities to sectors facing labour shortages.

Funding will be targeted at reengaging and training staff to work in the NHS and social care, training more HGV lorry drivers, reskilling people to work in green construction and renewable energy, and ensuring there are more trained chefs and hospitality staff.

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said: ‘The £45 million package I’m announcing today is being delivered at a critical time in our economic recovery. It provides an opportunity to kick-start and grow the economy as we focus on creating a fairer, greener and prosperous future for Wales.

‘The funding will offer businesses who need to re-invest – particularly following the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, our departure from the EU, and with a view to climate and Covid proofing – the opportunity to do so, in order to relaunch, develop and grow. We’re doing all we can to build a Wales with a prosperous, fair, green economy, where nobody is held back or left behind.’

Education Minister Jeremy Miles added: ‘Personal Learning Accounts give people the opportunity to gain the skills, knowledge and qualifications they need to make progress in their career. I’m pleased we have secured an additional £10m to boost this initiative.

‘This will provide opportunities for people to retrain and increase their earning potential in areas of the economy we know are under extreme pressure – including health and social care, training for HGV drivers, hospitality and green construction.’

In related news, a new grant scheme offering businesses up to £10,000 to bring vacant buildings back into permanent or temporary use has been launched, as part of a strategy to support Bristol’s economic recovery.

Photo by Alejandro Escamilla