Academy is great news for local area

Mark Currie

THE Government's Apprenticeship Levy is changing the face of how employers train staff.

And Mantra Learning is at the forefront of the overhaul with the establishment of its groundbreaking National Logistics Academy.

Launched in July 2016, it is a national network of organisations like Mantra which provide specialist logistics training, apprenticeships and workforce development to major, national employers who pay the levy.

It has 20 members from Exeter to Edinburgh, and Richard Weston, strategic development at Mantra, said: "There isn't anything else like it. There isn't anyone else offering the national service we can offer."

The Apprenticeship Levy was introduced in May to help meet its ambition to create three million more apprentices by 2020 and improve the quality of training.

Companies with a wage bill of more than £3 million have to pay a levy to the Government, which is then used by companies of any size to help train apprentices.

Under the reforms, firms also have greater choice about who provides this training and where.

Mantra was concerned that while it had a good relationship with the local and regional officers of national companies, it could miss out if they developed a centralised approach to training following the introduction of the levy.

So it set up the National Logistics Academy to support employers who train apprentices at locations across the country but wish to contract a single organisation that can manage the delivery to a common high standard.

Mantra chief executive Mark Currie said: "That was our solution to make sure that we retained these big companies and gained me more. But this has not just happened, it is something we tried to work on since 2005 with an organisation called Sector Skills Council which has now disappeared."

As well as quality control, Mantra also provides services such as central account management.

Mr Currie added: "Even though we have a Manchester postcode, we are an Oldham ratepayer. The HQ of the academy is in Chadderton ­- that's a good news story for the local area.

"It's also a good news story for children locally because a huge amount of the employment in local area is in logistics."

The academy is encouraging young people to prepare for career in logistics with the pathway to apprenticeship programme, which helps them to gain basic skills and work experience before progressing to an apprenticeship.

It is also a major sponsor of the Think Logistics campaign, working with schools and colleges to encourage young people to think about a career in the sector.

Mr Weston added: "We know there is an ageing workforce in logistics. It's a sector that's traditionally been seen as manual; but with the increasing demands of e-commerce, the technology is developing enormously quickly."