Meet Olly: The man who helps businesses benefit from apprenticeships

Meet our Business Development Officer, Olly. He works alongside Nina to help local businesses benefit from apprenticeships.

Today, he tells us all about his role in making apprenticeships straightforward for employers across the region.

Q: Hi Olly, can you tell us what your role is at Learning and Skills?

A: I work as a Business Development Officer for Learning and Skills at Gateshead Council. I'm a first point of contact for any businesses that are looking to upskill a member of their staff with an apprenticeship or recruit a new apprentice for their team.

Q: you work with local employers a lot - what's one of the most common apprenticeship questions that you get from them?

A: The most common question I get asked is how much it will cost the business. In terms of salary, businesses need to pay any apprentice they recruit the the national apprenticeship minimum wage, which is currently £8 per hour. 

Employers also usually have other questions around financial incentives. My job is to take all of the different government incentives available and make them as straightforward as possible.

Q: Can you tell us a little more about available funding that can help businesses to hire apprentices?

A: There currently are a few incentives available which were introduced in March 2026. All in all, depending on the apprentice's age and whether a company is levy or non-levy, businesses can receive up to £8,000.  My job is to break down what incentives they're eligible for depending on the apprentice that they hire.

Q: That sounds great! can you also help employers with the recruitment process?

A: Absolutely! We actually offer a free recruitment service as part of our package for employers. We work with employers to discover which apprenticeship programme is best suited to their business needs, and then proactively advertise their new vacancy through our marketing channels. Our team of Digital and Sales Advisors pre-screen candidates, checking for grades and making sure they are eligible for the role they've applied for. Next, the employer conducts face-to-face interviews with candidates that stand out to our team as the best suited to the role. They let us know who is ultimately successful, and we take care of all the apprenticeship paperwork in the background.

As you can see, Olly is passionate about helping businesses grow and prosper through apprenticeships. He's on-hand to answer further questions you may have about our free recruitment offer, financial incentives, and just apprenticeships in general. Click below to book a quick call with Olly today.