Government to ‘prioritise training for SMEs’

Training for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in England is to be prioritised under the ‘Train to Gain’ initiative, it has been announced.

 Yesterday the Government revealed its intention to use the training scheme to ensure small business employees have the skills required to weather the current financial storm.

‘Small businesses are an important engine of our economy and we must make sure that we support them during tough economic times,’ said Business Minister, Peter Mandelson.

‘We are overhauling the whole training system to make sure that they can get help with training their staff with the very minimum of bureaucracy. We know that firms which invest in skills do better, which is why we will be urging small businesses to take up this offer from Government.’

The move is part of a £350 million package of measures designed to support the UK’s SMEs.

Other suggestions include free ‘heath checks’ to help small firms identify problems at an early stage. The Government has also pledged to settle small business invoices within 10 days in a bid to alleviate the difficulties caused by late payment.

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