According to Donald Wylie of WRC Construction in Kirkwall,
applying for Flexible Training Opportunities funding from Skills
Development Scotland has made a big difference to his business.
The company is now the only one in Orkney able to operate spray
rendering equipment and has also received training in the operation
of 360 degree excavation diggers, which will help it compete for
government funded projects.
Donald himself was trained in spray rendering alongside WRC
colleague, Calvin Wilson, and they are both now pressing their news
skills into action building 12 new houses at St. Mary's Holm near
the village of St. Mary's on Orkney. Roderick Paterson, meanwhile,
undertook the excavation digger training with Orkney Construction
Training Group.
Construction companies the length and breadth of Scotland have
been tapping into the Flexible Training Opportunities Fund, which
is operated by Skills Development Scotland with support from the
European Social Fund to help small and medium sized
companies become more resilient and
successful.
Companies with up to 150 employees - including sole traders -
can have 50 per cent of their training costs met up to a maximum of
£5,000. There is a limit of £500 per training session, but other
than that the initiative is supremely flexible with businesses able
to train up to 10 individuals, invest heavily in just one or two,
or a number of variations in
between.
The fund can be used for such things as attaining industry
recognised qualifications, workshops, masterclasses and management
training, but does not extend to statutory training including
health and safety.
Donald, who is a director at WRC, comments, "I had absolutely no
problem applying for the funding, which meant a £750 saving for our
small, six-man company. The training puts us in a much stronger
position for the future, allowing us to compete for contracts that
we weren't able to
before."
Applications to the fund must be made by March 31 2012 in order
to quality for subsidies. Find out more
and download the application form elsewhere on this site or call
0800 783 6000 for more details.