Toyota has announced plans to create 1500 jobs in manufacturing as it sets it Burnaston plant up as its European centre for the creation of its hatchback vehicles. The plant currently employs 2,860 people and the recent announcement will create 500 new jobs in 2012 and possibly a further 1,000 new posts in 2013.
300 new jobs will be created as Nestle invests £110 million into an extension of it Hatton coffee manufacturing facility. The south Derbyshire site will treble production for the UK and abroad. The plant is a local success story with it creating 600+ jobs in the last 6 years.
The Prime Minister announces new scheme for businesses to be given the power to design, develop and purchase the vocational training programmes they need.
Following the announcements made at the Apprentice Summit on November 16, David Cameron announced the scheme designed to boost economic growth and ensure that the UK workforce has the skills that businesses require.
He made the announcement at the opening of McLaren’s new production centre in Woking.
In the New Year employers will be invited to bid for a share of the new £250 million government fund. It will route public investment directly to employers – enabling them to invest in the training they actually need.
Did you know the average commute adds up to a total of 5 weeks a year, the equivalent of many workers annual holiday allowance!
Employees spend nearly 200 hours a year travelling to and from work - adding up to around five weeks extra work - according to a TUC analysis of official statistics published today (Monday) to mark the start of Work Wise UK’s Commute Smart week (14-18 November).
The TUC study found that the average commute times for men are 26 per cent greater than for women - an average of 6.2 minutes longer on each commuting journey.
Men spend an average of 219 hours commuting per year, compared to 174 hours for women - a gap of 45 hours over the 12 months.
The gender commuting gap is biggest in the South East (8.8 minutes for each journey), the East of England (8.6 minutes) and Scotland (7 minutes).
The gap is smallest in London (3.3 minutes for each journey) and the North East (3.6 minutes). Women in London have longer average commute times than men who work in every other part of the UK.
London has the longest commute times for both male and female workers at 37.8 minutes per journey each way, while Northern Ireland has the shortest at 22.4 minutes.
A recent report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that workers with the longest commutes tend to earn more than those with shorter journeys to work.
With increasing congestion on the roads and public transport problems significantly adding to people’s commute times, the TUC is callin
Hundreds of small businesses will benefit from government investment of £95 million to help boost growth and rebalance the economy.
The funding is expected to create at least 4,000 jobs and unlock around £500 million of new investment by small and medium businesses (SMEs).
RBS, NatWest and HSBC have agreed to facilitate the distribution of the £95 million - which is part of the government’s Regional Growth Fund. RBS and NatWest will facilitate £70 million and HSBC will facilitate £25 million. The banks will not profit financially from the administration of these schemes.
Through these schemes small businesses, which are unable to secure commercial funding for their project, have the potential to benefit from government support through the banks’ regional networks in order to make their project commercially viable. The schemes announced today will provide grants to support SMEs considering investing in new capital assets and creating new employment.
The RBS and NatWest scheme is called the regional growth fund and will distribute £70 million.
The HSBC scheme is called the Assisted Asset Purchase Scheme and will distribute £25 million.
The funding will support new job-creating investment by SMEs across England, in particular parts that have become over-dependent on the public sector. 100 per cent of the RGF funding will be provided as grants to SMEs with the banks employing their regional networks to administer the schemes on a pro-bono basis.
SMEs can qualify for a grant if they are going to invest in new capital assets, such as plant and machinery, and create new jobs – and cannot get normal bank finance.
- Grants of up to £500,000 will be awarded alongside the award of a new bank loan on commercial terms.
- To qualify for the NatWest and RBS scheme, SMEs need a turnover of less than £25 million.
- To qualify for the HSBC scheme the SME will need a turnover of less than 50 million Euros.
- The banks will not earn any fees to administer the scheme. Interest earned on any funds held on the bank’s balance sheet must be used for beneficiary grants or returned to the government.
The government’s Regional Growth Fund is a £1.4 billion fund supporting projects that can create jobs, are based in areas dependent on the public sector and are supported by private sector investment.
