IPA helps agencies optimise apprenticeship levy

The IPA's one-stop-shop to help agencies make the most of the apprenticeship levy will offer advice, brand marketing, and school leaver recruitment.

Janet Hull: IPA director of marketing strategy
Janet Hull: IPA director of marketing strategy

The apprenticeship levy came into force yesterday and it means that employers must use 0.5% of payroll over £3m each year for apprenticeship training.

The IPA has set up Creative Pioneers 2, a consortium of training providers, to help businesses understand what they can do.

It will offer support in developing a three-year plan to make the most of the levy by looking at training opportunities; advice and management; and support for an agency’s steering committee.

The IPA will also have a dedicated account manager to work with each company.

The scheme will include a free advertising and recruitment service for every vacancy placed through Creative Pioneers 2.

A new platform has been set up to monitor the progress of all apprentices too.

Janet Hull, executive director at Creative Pioneers 2 and IPA director of marketing strategy, said: "There is no doubt that the apprenticeship levy is challenging agencies to rethink their recruitment strategies and it's a great way to access and attract more diverse talent into our industry.

"But there's a lot to take in when you first start. This is why the IPA has invested the past two years in putting together such a comprehensive streamlined process to help our agencies to really capitalise on it."

Those that have signed up to Creative Pioneers 2 so far are: Adam & Eve/DDB; Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO; Fold7; Group M; Havas Group; Imagination; J Walter Thompson; Maxus; McCann Worldgroup; MEC; Mindshare; MullenLowe; Ogilvy; Omnicom Group; Publicis Media; Wieden & Kennedy.

Patrick Mills, IPA director of professional development, said: "The levy has been a catalyst for the advertising industry to cast its net wider in the hunt for new talent.

"It will also up the ante in investment and in learning and development for agency staff, which is good for business and precisely why the IPA is working with our training providers to integrate IPA qualifications into the training programmes."

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