Berkeley commits £100k of Apprenticeship Levy to SMEs

Berkeley Group has committed £100,000 of unallocated Apprenticeship Levy to enable London’s small construction businesses to take on more apprentices.

The contribution is part of a new partnership between Berkeley and Workwhile, a not-for-profit initiative which aims to create good work and ensure disadvantaged people can access high-quality training. 

Berkeley’s commitment will support a range of new apprenticeships across London, with a particular focus on funding built environment roles within SMEs.

The partnership is part of Berkeley’s long-standing commitment to tackling industry skills shortages, increasing social mobility and creating a more diverse and highly-skilled built environment workforce.

The company invests in a wide range of in-house training programmes, with around 10% of the Berkeley workforce made up of ‘earn and learn’ roles (including 160 apprentices).

And Berkeley is now recruiting an additional 30 apprentices to join their teams. 

Rob Perrins, Chief Executive of Berkeley Group, said:

“We’re delighted to partner with Workwhile to support more disadvantaged and marginalised Londoners to access high-quality apprenticeships in our fantastic industry. This is about opening up access to rewarding careers and helping the capital’s built environment SMEs to grow their capacity.  These businesses are key to London’s future success and do a huge amount of good right across the city.

“Our partnership with Workwhile is an important addition to our Future Skills programme and we are delighted to be working alongside an organisation which shares our passion for social mobility and built environment careers.”

Jack Shaw, Senior Account Manager at Workwhile, said:

“We’re delighted to partner with Berkeley Group to create more high-quality apprenticeship opportunities across London.

“Berkeley’s support will enable us to continue to reach underrepresented communities and address labour shortages across the built environment.”