£2,000 grant for West Yorkshire and York businesses to recruit an apprentice

23rd August 2018

Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has today launched a new Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE) to boost apprenticeships across its key priority sectors of manufacturing and engineering technologies, information and communication technology including digital and construction, planning and the built environment.

Businesses in West Yorkshire and York are set to benefit from this new grant to help recruit their first apprentice aged 19-24, launched today by the LEP. Companies with less than 50 employers based in Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, Wakefield and York can now apply for a grant of up to £2000.

The LEP, working in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority is driving plans to increase the number of apprenticeships for people of all ages, available across Leeds City Region – offering people the opportunities to succeed and accelerating economic growth.

This new programme is part of a wider package of support available to businesses in the region through the LEP Growth Service, a single point of contact for businesses in the region that want to grow.

For more information please visit http://www.the-lep.com/news-and-blog/news/£2,000-grant-to-support-west-yorkshire-and-york-bu/

Connectivity Vouchers

9th August 2018

The Connectivity Vouchers are worth between £500 and £1,000 and can be used to help cover the cost of upgrading to faster broadband (over 30mbps). Aimed at businesses that are looking to upgrade their digital connectivity/broadband

Cost you can claim for include: Connections, Hardware: routers, cabling, firewalls and network solutions

Find out more and apply for your Connectivity Voucher today by visiting: www.digitalenterprise.co.uk/vouchers/connectivity-vouchers/

There are only 250 vouchers available for qualifying businesses in the Leeds City Region – So don’t delay

For any enquiries email enquiries.DE@Leeds.gov.uk

Keighley businesses to get a free taste of customer service training!

7th August 2018

Businesses in Keighley and surrounding areas are being given the opportunity to get a free sample of the WorldHost® customer service training programme, which has been used to train over 200,000 people in the UK, at a local event on Wednesday 26^th September 2018. The free taster session is being hosted by Airedale Enterprise Services and Shipley College. Local businesses will be able to experience some of the training exercises from the programme and find out how they can use WorldHost to benefit their organisations.

WorldHost training covers the key principles of customer service, plus additional modules on dealing with customers with disabilities, providing services to visitors from different cultures, increasing sales through service and developing support staff and volunteers into ambassadors for your local area. Additional programmes are also available to train managers to lead their teams to deliver excellent service.

Linda O’Donnell from Shipley College says: “Customer service is becoming increasingly important for businesses,. Research found that 61% of those businesses think customer service will be the most important skills need for their staff over the next five years.

“WorldHost training has been used by leading brands across the UK including Monarch, Chelsea Football Club, Bourne Leisure and Merlin Entertainments, and it can help your business attract and retain customers too. This is a great opportunity to find out more about WorldHost at no cost and ‘try before you buy’.  It’s also a chance to network with other local firms.”

Businesses that train 50% of their front line staff using any of the WorldHost programmes can apply to become a WorldHost Recognised Business – a national badge of excellence that allows them to display the WorldHost logo on their website and marketing materials, and receive a plaque to display in their business.

Towns, cities and tourist resorts that train 25% of businesses to WorldHost Recognised Business standards can also apply to become WorldHost Recognised Destinations and build their profile as a tourist destination.

The taster session will take place at Airedale Enterprise Services from 6pm – 8pm on Wednesday 26^th September. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis Businesses that are interested in attending the session can find out more and book their place by contacting Lynne Henry on 01535 607775.

WorldHost customer service training has been used to train over 200,000 people in the UK, including tens of thousands of volunteers and staff at major events such as the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympics.

Originally developed in Canada – widely recognised as the leading global destination for visitor welcome – and adapted for the UK market by performance and talent management expert,  the WorldHost programmes provide a gold standard in training for any business that relies on day-to-day interaction with customers for success. All WorldHost trainers are quality assured and are regularly tested to ensure they continue to deliver world-class customer service training.

WorldHost® is a registered trademark of go2 Tourism HR Society. Used under license.

To book your place(s) please follow this link BOOK NOW