More businesses to benefit from Kickstart as Stockport Council launch new support

Stockport Council and Stockport Jobs Match have launched a new tiered support offer in partnership with the Growth Company to help businesses of all sizes get young people into employment and access the Government’s new £2 billion Kickstart scheme.

Kickstart is set to create hundreds of thousands of Government-subsidised job placements to help young people affected by the economic fallout of Covid-19 into employment. The initiative is aimed at helping young people to gain vital skills and experience that will boost their employability.

Stockport’s Kickstart offer includes opportunities for those businesses who feared they would be left behind by the scheme due to a requirement to create a minimum of 30 job placements. 

Employers who participate in the scheme will not only gain access to a large pool of talented young people at zero cost but will also receive funding to cover additional costs, such as the training and development needs of each person placed. 

Under the scheme, the government will pay 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, in addition to National Insurance and pension contributions. There is also £1,500 per job placement available for setup costs, support and training.

The Stockport Jobs Match Kickstart offer includes a tiered package of support, depending on the requirements of the individual businesses who sign up. The scheme, which is being powered by not-for-profit social enterprise the Growth Company, includes: 

• Being a business’s Gateway organisation: The Growth Company will design roles which meet the needs of both a business and its eligibility criteria, produce role profiles and ensure applications meet all the necessary criteria. If a business is not able to offer the minimum requirement of 30 placements, they will partner you with other organisations in its network to collectively offer this amount.   
• On-placement support: The Growth Company will develop a comprehensive package for Kickstarters while they are on placement, taking away a business’s need to organise or deliver this. This could include Information, Advice and Guidance leading to structured personal development plans, help accessing training and qualifications, CV and employment advice and ongoing post-placement support for those who don’t obtain permanent work after the six-month period.   
• Employment services: The Growth Company can provide a range of HR and ‘back office’ support to help onboard new-starters – allowing businesses to ‘host’ the placement with help on a range of matters, including payroll, drawing up contracts, producing handbooks and best-practice documents, and handling a variety of HR queries.   

Caroline Patten from Grassroots Recruitment commented:

“The Kickstart Scheme is a fantastic opportunity for local employers to invest in fresh talent at zero cost and harness the energies of young people in Stockport. By partnering with the Growth Company, we hope to provide a supported and simple application process and bespoke in-placement training that will help business owners to get all the benefits of the government-subsidised initiative, without the strain. We want to help local firms with their recovery and create vital opportunities for young people to improve their long-term career prospects.”

If you would like to get involved, visit https://bit.ly/2TsSNuq to find out how we can help you to get started.