Major employers in Bolton are being urged to use apprenticeship levy funds before they expire, by using them, or sharing them with local companies.

In a bid to shape the region’s future economic capabilities, promote growth and create jobs ­— Alliance Manchester Business School is calling on organisations to use the imminent expiry of the first tranche of unused scheme payments in April 2019, as a prompt to conduct a thorough review of their skills needs.

According to the business school which is one of the Top 10 in Europe, the imminent and continuous expiry of contributions, leaves firms with a simple choice ­— either lose funds to the treasury every month ­— or use them as an opportunity to upskill.

Stuart Wells, executive director client relations at Alliance Manchester Business School said: “Confusion and criticism dominated the launch of the Apprenticeship Levy with Bolton’s large employers having to significantly readjust their processes to align with the structure.

"This means many simply haven’t had enough time to utilise all of the funds in their levy account to train staff.

“Organisations that quickly but thoroughly assess their skills and business needs, have fantastic opportunity to build their future capabilities and upskill, simply by utilising money that is presently on course to be lost – thereby turning a negative into a positive as this region does best.”

Presently, more than £3bn of apprenticeship levy funds in England remain unused with just one in five levy-paying employers making apprenticeship commitments.

Additional to the UK productivity limitations caused by skills shortages, findings from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) indicate that 43 per cent of UK managers are ineffective or highly ineffective.

If levy paying organisations struggle to spend money in their account, 10 per cent of their annual funds can be transferred to third party organisations, with the amount increasing to 25 per cent from April. Both companies need to be registered with the apprenticeship service in order to transfer or receive the funds.