Explaining the Apprenticeship Levy</strong>
At Heart of England training, we are committed to providing the best opportunities for school leavers and post-16 students. Whether you choose an apprenticeship, a private course, or a full-time course, we offer comprehensive support to help you achieve your goals. We have spoken to our Apprenticeship Levy Manager, Riv Monsell, who has gone into detail on explaining the Apprenticeship Levy. Also what importance it holds within a training provider company.
We offer a free recruitment service to assist you in shortlisting applicants for your vacancies. Our team can collaborate with you to create comprehensive job descriptions and manage the process of advertising the vacancy online. While we recommend marketing the opportunity through your own platforms, both online and offline, our support ensures a wider reach. Additionally, apprenticeships are great way to upskill or retrain your existing workforce.
Apprenticeship Levy Management
Riv has been working with Heart of England Training for over 13 years now and has had several distinct roles within the company.
“I started off in telesales, having previously come from a sales background, I stayed in that position for a brief time before a business development role became available. After several years of developing my knowledge, I became manager of the team. I now manage a team of 6 people and we are looking to expand the team as we grow the business.
Over a few years, Riv has developed the account management role. He discovered his own ways of improving the account management tools that the company needed to develop.
Currently, Riv’s role consists of trying to identify and understand the marketplace. Understanding what the customers are looking for and trying to stay ahead of the changes that constantly happen in our industry. His aim is to make all of this very easy and understandable for the clients.
Heart of England Training
Riv is a passionate and career-driven individual who always strives for the best result for the company. He described his overall job role as multifaceted. He told us that he’s here to ensure the account management team understand the profession they work in and to also go on the journey of becoming trusted advisors providing excellent information and guidance. We as a company want our account managers to be people who understand the value of apprenticeships, and also keen to talk about them. As well as be ambassadors for apprenticeships.
“It is my job to ensure people are passionate about apprenticeships. Account Management is about consultancy, understanding their clients, and providing the right fit and guidance whilst also making sure that we work with the right businesses. We want to work with companies that share our objectives and value the work that we do.
Riv continued to say that his favourite thing about his job role is being able to talk to clients.
“I really enjoy talking to clients and understanding their problems. A lot of what we do isn’t sales, its more consultancy. Its about understanding the pinch points and the pain that other businesses are having and helping to find solutions. We are talking about knowledge transfer, ageing workforce, staff retention, development, and progression pathways. All of the above is what our Human Resources teams are discussing and looking to develop on further. As we start to have these conversations, we understand the businesses we work with much better and the conversation changes. It goes from ‘do you want an apprenticeship?’ to ‘Lets talk about your future leadership programme.”
What is the Apprenticeship Levy?
Explaining the Apprenticeship Levy can be a confusing structure to understand, so we wanted Riv to explain the apprenticeship levy works and what can it do for you.
Riv told us that back in 2017, the government knew that the landscape for training needed to change. So they went to businesses and asked them what they needed.
“Firstly, they introduced the Apprenticeship Levy. The Levy focusses on businesses that have a wage bill of more than £3 million. A direct response that when we looked at European counterparts, they were spending 20% more on staff development and training. We in England hadn’t realised there was a widening skills gap and lack of funding from companies to try to promote that or fill that skills gap.”
“The Levy is there to compel businesses to do that development. Prior to the levy, training budgets focussed on mandatory requirements such as manual handling and Health and Safety. Not about development of staff. And so that is what the levy is; to me. It was a direct response that organisations needed to invest in people. They have then gone to the marketplace and produced a list of qualifications.”
So how did Riv come across Heart of England Training? Previously, Riv had worked with us in his early 20’s. He stayed with the company for a few years before moving to explore his life further in London working in various sales roles and then making a rapid change.
About Riv Monsell
“Later on in my life, I made the decision to go and live in France for a brief time, eventually coming back to Rugby and decided to choose a more rewarding industry. I met Jill in a chance meeting, and she offered for me to come back to HOET. I’ve always had a passion for apprenticeships, I am an advocate for them and believe that they offer so many opportunities for young people but also existing staff.
Having an influential role within the company, we wanted to get to know Riv as a person outside his job role besides explaining the Apprenticeship Levy. He described himself as a motivating individual. He enjoys a happy office environment.
Outside of his busy working life, Riv has many hobbies and passions in his personal life. He told us that for many years he had been a keen cricketer. Riv enjoys wild camping and has done several multi-day wild camping walks, the longest being three and a half weeks through the centre of Portugal. Riv has an ambition to do the Pacific Crest Trail, which is six months from the Mexico border to Canada. In the meantime, Riv has found an interest in golfing. He said that he finds it extremely challenging, but that is the kind of hobby that he is looking for.
“I enjoy physical activity. I have always been very keen on sport. It provides excellent ways for people to form relationships. I thoroughly enjoyed organising our most recent charity walk with the company, Scafell Pike! That was an amazing experience, and it was eye opening to take on such a challenge with colleagues.
