Training continues to expand.

Double the number of Midlands employers are providing apprenticeships in health and social care, according figures release by a leading training company.

In the past year the number of small to medium-sized businesses seeking to provide apprenticeship places have jumped from around 100 to 200. And bosses at GB Training Ltd in Birmingham are predicting a continued rise in the numbers of care home firms asking for support to train workers looking to find jobs in the social care sector.

Currently GB Training Ltd has around 500 apprentices on a rolling programme working on apprenticeship qualifications ranging from levels two, three and up to level five diplomas in management.

Lawrence Barton, GB Training Ltd director, said: “It is very interesting that there has been such a jump in the number of SME businesses who are keen to take on apprentices. I think more employers have grown to realise taking an apprentice or enhancing their staff skills with additional training is an essential route to bolstering their business.

“We are hearing from a lot of owner-managers of residential homes that the training provided through an apprenticeship is having a marked effect on the quality of care being provided. Apprenticeships also open doors for employees. We have had care assistants who have gone on to become qualified nurses and others who have become mental health workers within the NHS – careers they wouldn’t have had were it not for taking up good apprenticeships in health and social care.”

GB Training Ltd provides hundreds of apprenticeship places in care, hospitality, IT and vehicle mechanics in jobs at businesses across Birmingham and the West Midlands. The well-established family-run company works with firms ranging from IKEA, Radisson Blu and Cadbury World, scores of care specialist companies and Heartlands Hospital.