Funds will be made available to any small or medium sized employers (SMEs) or not for profit organisations, seeking to recruit an ex-offender into an apprenticeship position.
Sodexo research found over one in five (21%) UK businesses would be more likely to hire an ex-offender if they could receive apprenticeship levy funds to cover the training costs associated.
Sodexo launched Starting Fresh to encourage and provide guidance to businesses on proactively hiring ex-offenders. Since 2019 Sodexo has gifted a portion of the apprenticeship levy it pays and in February this year passed the £2 million milestone.
Sally Porter, catering and hospitality tutor at HMP Peterborough, said: “Both our training restaurants mirror a commercial set-up. Participants need to study for their NVQ in Food Production & Cooking while catering for officers, staff, prisoners and visitors, so it’s far from an easy life.”
Large businesses, such as Sodexo, that pay the apprenticeship levy can choose to transfer up to 25% of their levy funds each year to other organisations to pay for their apprenticeship training and assessment.
Sue Davison, head of apprenticeships at Sodexo UK & Ireland, added: “Given the results of the survey, we decided to take employers at their word and provide a proportion of our levy gifting fund specifically to those who would offer apprenticeships to ex-offenders.
“We can also provide support via our prisons and partners in helping connect employers with this pool of talent. We look forward to hearing from any SMEs or not for profits who are interested in helping individuals rebuild their lives in this way.”
Businesses interested in applying for the apprentice levy gifting can contact Sodexo by email at startingfresh.js.uk@sodexo.com.