A social enterprise that believes meaningful work helps people & business.
"I was fortunate enough to be given a chance to learn on the job. I now want to help others access great careers that they love."
Phil Golding, SupplyTrain
A social enterprise that helps businesses create better work opportunities for people
SupplyTrain is a Community Interest Company that provides free, impartial support to employers on apprenticeships and work-based learning, funded through consultancy work for the training sector.
Whilst we supply free, initial training and apprenticeship advice to businesses of all sizes, we are particularly keen to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs employ 60% of all the people working in the UK private sector today. Yet, 99% of those businesses do not have the time or human resources to stay up-to-date with the opportunities that work based learning and apprenticeships can bring, allowing their staff to develop and their business to grow.
SupplyTrain CIC’s service providing free, high-quality, impartial advice on apprenticeships and work-based learning gives the businesses we support the knowledge and confidence to invest in people. This in turn, creates meaningful work opportunities and supports social mobility.
Maggie Fowler
Founder
Maggie founded SupplyTrain CIC after becoming an Apprenticeship Ambassador in 2015. She had recently retired from a successful finance career in Higher and Further Education and wanted to help small businesses understand apprenticeships and the benefits they could bring.
After talking to employers, it became clear there was a lot of bad advice and misconceptions about workplace training and how to access skills. SupplyTrain CIC was set up to address those concerns.
Maggie’s financial background is especially useful when helping employers understand the costs and how to measure return on training investment.
CIC Statement
SME support
“SupplyTrain CIC is committed to helping businesses and sole traders in the UK that want to engage in high quality, workplace training and apprenticeships that will benefit people and communities.”
We believe that taking on an apprentice and providing high-quality training for staff is not just a good commercial decision for businesses, but also a socially responsible one. Training staff as they work creates more satisfied employees, more productive companies and a UK economy with a skills base to underpin its future success.
Phil Golding
Managing Director
Phil is on a mission to bridge the skills gap between what employers need from their workforce and the mismatch in skills, knowledge and behaviours many job applicants possess.
Phil believes that training should be shaped by the needs of responsible employers. He hears far too often from young people that the qualifications they worked hard to obtain did not, in reality, open up more job opportunities in their chosen field. This leaves them demoralised, apathetic and disappointed in the world of work.
Using a market-led approach to training, Phil gets under the skin of employers and uses that insight to develop a better training service for all. Over his career, Phil has delivered £millions worth of new income to training providers and colleges, as well as increasing satisfaction levels amongst learners and winning several awards along the way.
Our values as a social enterprise
Training should be employer-led
Teaching skills to people that are needed by the labour market produces a more satisfied working population and increases employment rates long-term.
Apprenticeships should encourage social mobility
Growing your own talent means giving opportunities to people that have the raw attributes to succeed. This creates a more level playing field in the workplace.
SMEs should have access to great training advice
SMEs employ most of the private sector in the UK. They need to keep up-to-date with developments to succeed. This underpins a growing economy.
A social enterprise that is ‘enterprising’!
Our consultancy aims to be creative, innovative and pioneering. We help our clients to understand the possibilities of their work-based learning provision, then find solutions to help them grow their quality apprenticeship provision to the benefit of all.
Based in East Sussex or Kent?
SupplyTrain is able to provide workshops and seminars on the business case for apprenticeships to employer and community groups in East Sussex and Kent.
Email us the group details, date time and location and we shall be in touch.
Hear about our impact
“Phil helped us understand how we could use apprenticeships as a way to help people with autism and learning difficulties into work. Lots of employers are reluctant to employ people with autism and learning difficulties, as it can take time for them to understand their role. The apprenticeship route takes the financial pressure off the employer and gives the learner time to settle in and prove they are great at their job!”
Andrea Randall-Smith, Supported Employment Manager, Little Gate Farm