Matt Garvey chats about the future of good quality subcontracting

We chat with Matt Garvey, Managing Director of the West Berkshire Training Consortium about the future of good quality subcontracting and the benefits to the sector of the Prime and Subcontractor relationship. Matt explains that he runs a small provider, but they are also a Prime Provider. He works with Subcontractor’s who are both provision and service and they have been subcontracting for well over 20 years. 

Matt ran a workshop at the AELP annual conference called ‘The future of good quality subscontracting’ and is in part a riposte to the handful, but negative coverage of some subcontractors in the sector. He reminds us that of the 76% of Apprenticeships delivered by independent providers, many of those are acting through a Prime (so acting as a subcontractor), which could be another independent provider or college and it highlights that those partnerships deliver good quality and sometimes quite high volume Apprenticeships in a wide range of sectors and indeed without those relationships some of those sectors many not be served without subcontractors. 

Due to the recent negative coverage of subcontractors, the Brexit result may bring in new people into power, there could be a potential rush to limit or ban subcontracting. Matt explains that this would be short sighted as the vast majority of Prime to Subcontractor relationships are very good and that the sector probably would not have achieved anywere near the level of Apprenticeship volumes without the Prime and Subcontractor relationships.

Matt then chats through the benefits of subcontractors and how to manage strong, successful, quality relationships between Primes and subcontractors. Please click on the video below to hear what Matt has to say about the future of good quality subcontracting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZexYCO6ppzs