Our Let’s Chat series shines the spotlight on our all-important stakeholders who form a vital part of Engine Shed. We sat down with Alex Richards, Managing Director of the Western Training Provider Network (WTPN), to find out how the WTPN is developing the regional skills ecosystem, and how businesses can get involved and benefit from their apprenticeship support programmes.
What do you do and what is your background?
I’m Managing Director of the WTPN, a regional membership network of post-16 training providers with over 45 members, including educational organisations like local colleges, charities and awarding bodies.
I come from a family of teachers and got into the training and education sector 20 years ago. After a circuitous route, I found a familiar home where I feel really passionate. I have a strategic role, looking to improve systems. I’m a connector and I’ve always been innovative in my approach. I like to design and deliver initiatives or programmes where the system needs a kick start or a gap needs filling, like our SME apprenticeship guidance service or an apprenticeship NEET academy I helped establish a good few years back in central Bristol; we really made a difference and helped hundreds of quite lost young people into early careers.
What is the WTPN’s elevator pitch?
The WTPN is a vibrant and innovative membership community of education and training organisations committed to developing a quality skills and education system in the West of England.
We share news and best practice, represent members to local and national government and run impartial skills and apprenticeship contracts to support the regional eco system.
Our small team based here at Engine Shed run our commissioned contracts and we make quite an impact; particularly in the apprenticeship space, the programmes we run include an advice and guidance service for West of England schools and students, a free apprenticeship consultancy service for SMEs and the apprenticeship levy share service for the West of England Combined Authority, to name just a few.
What makes the West of England an innovative area for training and development?
I work and connect with peers nationally and many single out our region as being particularly good for collaboration; I hear the same sentiments from quite different sources, not just about our skills system but about the region as a whole. A collaborative system fosters innovation.
Engine Shed is your chosen coworking base. How would you describe Engine Shed?
Innovative, collaborative, friendly. A unique space, where you can get a number of events and meet ups all happening and colliding at the same time. When it’s really busy its quite energising to be part of.
The University of Bristol is a key levy gifter of the West of England Combined Authority’s Share to Support scheme, which this year marked the creation of 500 apprenticeships for the region. How does this scheme work for those who may not be familiar with it?
Many large businesses can’t spend all of their apprenticeship levy on their own apprenticeship programmes and any excess goes to the Treasury. They do have the option though to gift some of these funds to smaller businesses before it’s returned to the Treasury, to help cover some of the costs they might incur if they hire or develop apprentices themselves. It’s a generous act which keeps levy funds in our region, developing our people and businesses.
We manage the system of gifting levy funds in our region for the West of England Combined Authority. We have encouraged key employers with a footprint here to pledge excess levy funds and we find keen recipients.
We celebrate the success of the scheme annually by bringing together our generous gifters, our receiving SMEs and the apprentices who have been funded. It’s been an amazing initiative to date; we have created over £6m of pledged funds, shared £4m and have funded close to 500 apprenticeships in the West of England.
How can the University’s new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus (opening 2026) support the West of England’s skills and education aims?
In many ways: by linking graduates to the region’s economy; by sharing knowledge and expertise on business incubation and growth, on best practice in teaching and learning and how this could be adapted to skills development in the workplace; and by building links with local communities whose residents might want to work there, or at a spin out business as it grows.
In your experience, what is the most common misconception people have about apprenticeships
That apprenticeships are just for practical, traditional roles, for 16-year-olds. There are over 700 really modern apprenticeships, designed by employers, at levels ranging from GCSE level to degree apprenticeships, in every sector with progression routes through the levels. People are accessing them at all ages and at all stages in a career lifecycle.
The WTPN celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. What are your proudest achievements so far and any exciting things you can mention for 2025?
So many things. Firstly, co-designing a ‘meet the provider’ event with Bristol City Council which is still going strong eight years later. These events enable anyone who advises young people about careers to meet all the providers that can support a transition into work. We have therefore created an annual opportunity where trusted relationships can begin to form between professionals.
Also, our apprenticeship levy Share to Support initiative, and delivering apprenticeship workshops to over 15,000 students per year; we really have done some great work together, as a team, as a network and with stakeholder partners, which includes our funders who trust us to deliver.
With an ambitious new government in place, we are staying agile to see what their changes to the skills system will bring in 2025.Coming up this National Apprenticeship Week (10 – 14 Feb), we are supporting Anthony Impey MBE, a small business productivity guru and chair of the apprenticeship ambassador network, to meet 100 SMEs in a week, hear their stories of apprenticeships, listen to their successes and celebrate with them the great work they are doing. Anthony is chairing 2 roundtables at Engine Shed on Wednesday 12th February, all are welcome! you can book a place on our events page.
If you’ve enjoyed this Let’s Chat, take a look at the other interviews in our Let’s Chat series.
If you’d like to learn more about apprenticeships, check out the employers’ guide to apprenticeships that we compiled to mark National Apprenticeship Week 2024.
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