Plexal and Multiverse to Close Skills Gap for Early-Stage Businesses

• Apprenticeship opportunities unlocked as startups in Plexal’s innovation ecosystem gain access to unused apprenticeship levy, donated by corporate businesses with leftover funds.
• New partnership will offer Plexal’s startup network access to Multiverse apprenticeships and education programmes to upskill and reskill their teams – supporting Plexal’s mission to close the skills gap for UK tech startups
• Announcement ties in with Chancellor’s fresh call to solve labour shortages as 6.6 million people of working age in the UK are unemployed

Plexal, the innovation company solving society’s challenges through collaboration with government, startups and industry, has today announced a partnership with Multiverse to close the skills gap for early-stage businesses.

It aligns with Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, visiting Plexal Stratford where he delivered a speech highlighting four pillars to improve productivity: Enterprise, Employment, Everywhere, Education. “Most businesses talk about labour shortages but we have 6.6 million people of working age who are not in work and we need to harness their skills so we can become a high-wage, high-skill economy,” the Chancellor said.

As part of the new partnership, startups in Plexal’s innovation ecosystem will gain access to unused apprenticeship levy, donated by corporate businesses with surplus funds. The government apprenticeship levy was introduced to benefit businesses by boosting essential training and developing apprenticeship programmes.

Plexal’s work to close the gap between organisations – small and large, local and global, private and public – will be strengthened with the offering for startups to use Multiverse apprenticeships and education programmes to upskill and reskill their teams.

Key details about the scheme:

• Multiverse facilitates the levy transfer between large organisations with funding pots who want to deliver impact, and startups without large sums of funding who need upskilling or reskilling in digital and data skills
• Apprenticeships consist of 20% on-the-job learning, enabling individuals to apply skills through the role
• The scheme is funded through a donated apprenticeship levy – e.g. from large organisations with multi-million pound salary pots

Plexal will initially offer the programme to selected startups with the aim to roll out the Multiverse offering more widely across its innovation ecosystem.

The Multiverse programmes on offer through the partnerships include – Advanced Data Fellowship, Data Fellowship, Data Literacy and Business Transformation.

Plexal and Multiverse have a shared commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), in order to increase representation of individuals from diverse backgrounds within organisations and provide them with equal opportunities by meeting their needs and creating inclusive cultures within workspaces.

This partnership will support Plexal’s mission to close the skills gap for UK tech startups and the initiative will become yet another offering that’s part of its innovation consultancy service and workspace membership.

Andrew Roughan, CEO of Plexal, comments:

“We’re delighted to announce this partnership and work with Multiverse – a trailblazer in the skills and diversity arena, committed to creating new pathways to learning.

“Closing the skills gap is a core part of the Plexal mission and integral to delivering on the innovation agenda outlined by the government. If we are to properly address some of the biggest challenges facing our society and economy, then we need to tackle the skills gap and unlock the full potential of our early-stage businesses.

“There’s a lot of discussion around diversity in the workplace but 47% of leaders don’t have an EDI plan in place and 25% of activities are reactive. So we need to create upskilling opportunities for people whatever their background – and we’re confident this partnership with help enable that for our innovation ecosystem.”

Jeremy Duggan, President of Multiverse, said:

“For startups to grow, it’s essential that they have the right skills in place. As data and digital transformation take hold, apprenticeships are simply the best way to deliver the skills a modern business needs.

“Our partnership with Plexal will ensure that, while we work together to close the skills gap, the leaders of the future reflect society as a whole: creating opportunities for talented people from every background.”