Small businesses across Edinburgh and the Lothians now have the opportunity to access fully funded training to grow their business and develop their staff, in partnership with Edinburgh College.

The money from the Scottish Government is part of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund. Introduced by the Scottish Government in 2017 for apprenticeship-levy paying organisations to access funded training for staff from their local college. The fund has now been expanded to allow small businesses to access the same training opportunities up to the value of £5,000.

Courses designed and delivered by College lecturers cover areas including: Management and Leadership; Accounting and Finance; Mental Health and Resilience; Social Care; Health and Safety; Hospitality; Engineering; Construction and Trades; Digital Skills; and the Creative Industries, among others.

Small to medium business are classed as any business with under 250 employees. To be granted the fund you must have one of the following:

• A business bank account
• VAT registration
• PAYE registration
• Companies House info (latest accounts, etc.)
• Registration for self-assessment tax return (HMRC)

To find out about the FWDF and how to apply for training, small businesses across the region are being encouraged to attend a virtual event hosted on Zoom by Edinburgh College’s Training and Development team on Tuesday 2 February 2021, from 8.30-9.15am.

The virtual event will give businesses an introduction to the fund, the simple application process, and an insight into the wide range of training courses which are available for business to access – before engaging in a live question and answer session.

Edinburgh College is leading the way in providing in house, on campus, and virtual training having launched a new virtual professional training prospectus in response to the ongoing pandemic – meaning clients’ training can be delivered via multiple methods to suit their needs.

Edinburgh College Head of Commercial Jane Grant said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming representatives from small businesses in our region, to tell them about the brilliant opportunities training provided through the FWDF can bring to their firms and their employees.

“Since the inception of the fund in 2017, we have developed a strong track record for delivering high quality training to our levy-paying clients and we’re now very excited to be establishing new partnerships by expanding that offer to smaller firms across Edinburgh and the Lothians.”

Register your place for the Virtual Flexible Workforce Development Fund event here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sme-funded-training-event-tuesday-2nd-february-2021-tickets-133200764071?aff=erelexpmlt

Find out more about the Flexible Workforce Development Fund: http://www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk//Training/fwdf