Conference and event organiser Neil Stewart Associates (NSA) has been sold within three days of going into administration.

Andrew Stoneman and Matt Bond, from the financial advisory and investment banking firm Duff & Phelps, were appointed joint administrators to the firm, which hosts events in sectors including further education, on March 5.

However, on March 8, the administrators confirmed that a sale had been agreed, although the buyer is yet to be identified.

NSA told FE Week that “a substantial investment in online television, the scale of training and conference cutbacks in the public sector and the lack of bank finance for small businesses” had been the factors leading to administration.

Neil Stewart, chairman and chief executive of the firm, said: “We have appreciated the support from delegates, partners and speakers at a difficult time and we are determined to keep innovating on events to meet the challenge of an online future.

“The new investment makes that possible.”

At the time of going to press, the joint administrators told FE Week that they hoped to have the sale finalised within days.

A spokesman for Duff & Phelps said: “Andrew Stoneman and Matt Bond, joint administrators for NSA, have confirmed that they have agreed a sale of the business and assets of the company and contracts have been issued.

“The administrators are aiming to conclude the sale within the next 24-48 hours. We are adding nothing further at this stage.”

NSA which employs 20 members of staff, has been producing public policy conferences and events since its establishment in 1994.

They work with public bodies, membership associations, think tanks, campaign groups, voluntary organisations and the commercial sector.

The firm is due to hold a conference on Information, Advice and Guidance on Thursday and Shared Services for Further Education on March 26.

The events will still take place as administrators had been running the firm as a “going concern” prior to the sale.

Independent to the conference division, NSA also offers a press and public relations, campaign planning and communications consultancy service.

At the time of going into administration, Mr Stoneman said: “The conference sector is one that has been particularly badly hit by the downturn in corporate discretionary spending in recent years, no more so than in the public sector.

“The company has a prestigious client list and we are actively seeking a buyer for the business as a going concern.

“We are reviewing all options and for the time being it is business as usual whilst we conduct our search.”

Elmfield Training Ltd has been called upon by the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Select Committee to give evidence for their inquiry into apprenticeships.

The training provider is one of six organisations, including Morrisons, Microsoft, Carillion, Babcock and Robinson Brothers, which has been contacted by the committee to give evidence.

Gerard Syddall, company director and 95 per cent shareholder of Elmfield Training, will be representing his company during the session.

Mr Syddall told FE Week: “When we heard about the BIS inquiry we expressed a real desire through the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) to talk to the committee.

“I am delighted that we have been given a chance to contribute to the very important debate about the future direction of apprenticeships.”

Elmfield Training has been in the public spotlight since FE Week reported in July 2011 their involvement in 12-week apprenticeships through Synapse, and that they had accumulated £12.3 million in pre-tax profits for the financial year ending in September 2010, on a turnover of £33.8 million

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) first contracted with Elmfield Training in 2010/11 academic year for almost £24 million. This was doubled to nearly £43 million after the first six months, and for the 2011/12 academic year they have been allocated more than £37 million.

Elmfield Training claim to be “fastest growing vocational training provider in the UK,” not least owing to their role as a training provider for Morrisons.

A Freedom of Information request by FE Week to the SFA revealed that in 2009/10 Elmfield Training had 4,980 apprenticeship starts with Morrisons, which jumped to 20,380 in the first nine months of 2010/11.

Of these 17,870 were over the age of 25, and the average duration was 28 weeks with 75 per cent studying at Level 2.

Ofsted first inspected Elmfield Training as an SFA prime contractor at the end of July 2011, and graded them as ‘satisfactory’.

Mr Syddall also setup his own awarding body, Skillsfirst Awards, in May 2009 to certificate the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) qualifications and apprenticeship frameworks delivered by Elmfield Training.

In November, Myra Wall, managing director of Skillsfirst Awards, said: “Thanks to our unique positioning, structure and in-depth sector understanding, we are able to work with training providers and employers to deliver relevant, fit-for-purpose work-based qualifications.

“Although setting up as an awarding body was very demanding due to the rigour of the recognition process in place, we are extremely proud of the growth we have achieved to date and our customer base and qualifications portfolio is rapidly building.”

Elmfield Training’s history with Morrisons does not stop at the delivery of apprenticeships. It also includes a donation of £200,000 to support a community interest company setup by Morrisons’ HR director.

They gave the financial contribution to Create, a social enterprise which supports homeless and disadvantaged people back into work, to help them continue operating.

A spokesperson at Elmfield Training said: “Elmfield would like to confirm our donation to Create was £200,000. As a responsible business with a management team focused on giving back to the communities in which we operate, we are incredibly proud to be working with leading social enterprise Create to help get some of the most chronically socially excluded people in the country into jobs.

“Both the SFA and the National Apprenticeship Service are aware of our long-standing partnership and of the social impact it has delivered.”

Gary Stott, deputy chair at Create, added: “Elmfield is one of the many businesses that have supported us. As we expanded, Elmfield helped fund additional coaches and mentors for our Create trainees.

“We are wholly transparent on this and know it is a contribution that Elmfield is very proud of having made, and I can confirm that this is a sum of £200,000, which is a matter of public record.”

Norman Pickavance, according to documents at Companies House, is a company director and former 33 per cent shareholder at Create, as well as the current HR director at Morrisons.

The latest abbreviated accounts from Create, available at Companies House, which detail up to September 30, 2010, show its fixed assets reduced from £49,499 in 2009 to £28,762 in 2010, despite the £200,000 donation.

Mr Stott added: “Philanthropic support is vital, especially from the business community, without it we would not have been able to help the people we have helped.

“Elmfield, as a business working to get people to employment, is obviously sympathetic to and supportive of our cause.”

Create runs a number of food businesses, including a restaurant and production kitchen in Leeds, in order to give volunteers a “sense of purpose and direction,” according to Mr Stott.

In addition to its financial contribution, Elmfield Training has seconded three staff to work alongside the staff at Create and offer both coaching and mentoring support to volunteers.

The volunteers at Create work for three days a week with around 60 staff, including chefs formally at Harvey Nichols and La Gavroche, followed by one to two days working with Elmfield Training employees on confidence building, CV writing, basic skills, numeracy and literacy.

The social enterprise also works with a number of firms, including Morrisons, to support people who have been homeless, marginalised or vulnerable, back into a job.

The Create website states: “Morrisons have worked with us at Create to craft a training programme that supports people into employment.

“The aim is to get 1,000 people through our Academy and working in store at Morrisons.

“Starting in Leeds, the first graduates have already joined the shop-floor workforce at the supermarket’s new store in Harehills, one of the most deprived areas of the city.”

The general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU) is pledging to put more resources at the frontline after securing a landslide re-election.

Sally Hunt retained the post after defeating her only opponent Mark Campbell by a margin of 6,835 votes. She won 73 per cent of votes cast.

The huge margin of victory is more than five times greater than when Sally was elected as UCU’s first general secretary in 2007, when she won by 1,346 votes, although she faced more opponents during that election.

Despite her massive majority, Sally told FE Week: “On a personal level, it was a relief,” before adding: “It’s not something you ever get used to.”

One of the key themes of Sally’s manifesto was to expand UCU’s employment and legal resources, so members can get “even faster advice and representation”, while also increasing the amount of union staff working in support of negotiators.

A ballot for which, Sally says, will be sent out next week.

To do this, she intends to reduce UCU’s national executive committee from its current membership of 70 to “no more than 40” in the future.

She said: “College staff play a vital role in society and they deserve better than to have their pensions attacked, pay frozen and the services they provide threatened with privatisation.

“UCU’s role today is not just to protect members’ professional interests, but also to stand up for the value of education itself.

“Improving support for members and branches in the current climate is not an optional extra, it is essential to protect our people wherever they work.

“I stood on a platform of improving services for members and supporting branches, campaigning on what matters and giving members more say in the union’s decisions.

“Achieving this will mean making difficult choices such as reducing the size of our national executive committee to that of other unions in order to put more resources on the front line.”

Another key theme of her manifesto was for UCU’s membership to have a “greater participation” in union activities.

Sally wants members to have a “direct say” in what UCU does and cites the recent ad-hoc ballots, on issues such as membership to the Institute for Learning, as an example for how they can build on this in the future.

She said: “Any union that wants to function, and function well, has to have a way of encouraging its members to engage in key decisions.”

However, despite the plea for greater involvement in key decisions, the election itself saw just a 12.8 per cent turnout.

Sally said: “I wasn’t surprised (by the turnout).

“I would have liked it to be larger, but I wrote to members four times by e-mail and every member got the option to see the manifesto.”

Another priority for Sally will be the sale of Britannia House, in North London.

As previously reported by FE Week, the building was proposed for sale at an estimated price of £12 million after the merger of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) and the Association of University Teachers (AUT) to form the UCU in June 2006.

However, with the building unsold, concerns have been raised about the union’s ability to pay off its debts, while UCU insists it is “unwise” to gauge what the financial situation is with the union, until the sale has been completed.

Sally said: “It’s coming along at the speed of a snail, but it’s coming along. It’ll take as long as it takes.

“It’s been frustrating, but I can’t make the market move any faster than it is.”

The results for UCU vice-president and other elected officials should be available early next week.

___________________________________________________________________________

UCU vote result in full

Number of ballot papers distributed: 117,918

Number of ballot papers returned: 15,045

Number of valid ballot papers: 14,717

Sally Hunt: 10,776

Mark Campbell: 3,941

Turnout: 12.8%

NAS confirm that 12 month minimum duration will apply to each level of the apprenticeship

Apprenticeship providers should not be able to deliver multiple levels of a framework in less than 12 months, according to the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS).

The NAS say they are working with training providers such as Aspire Achieve Advance Ltd, which runs a programme qualifying learners at three different levels in 14 months, to ensure their delivery is compliant.

A NAS spokesperson said: “An apprenticeship framework is made up of different qualifications and will reflect what the Issuing Authority recognises as appropriate for an apprenticeship in that particular sector – however different levels would usually constitute different apprenticeship programmes.

“The framework document for accountancy gives an expectation that the Level 2 would take 12 months and the Level 3 and Level 4 would each take between 12 and 18 months.

“Where necessary we are working with providers to change their delivery models to be fully compliant.”

The Accounting Academy Partnership (AAP) is one of four divisions run by Aspire Achieve Advance Ltd, a provider with subcontracts totalling £9.7 million part owned by Di McEvoy-Robinson, former principal of West Nottinghamshire College.

The first apprentices enrolled by AAP, described by McEvoy-Robinson as “bright young things”, started in March last year and are expected to complete in May.

McEvoy-Robinson says the achievement rates, which are above the national average at 95 per cent for Level 2 and 90 per cent for Level 3, justify the duration of the programme.

“They’re all very well educated in terms of their GCSEs, in the main – they have to have at least five at A to C to  get on the programme,” McEvoy-Robinson said.

“So yes, my answer is it’s definitely appropriate to do all three levels in 14 months.”

AAT, the awarding body for the accounting technician qualification delivered by AAP, says although the delivery model isn’t suitable for every provider, there is still  “much to recommend about it”.

“AAT does not prescribe how long each level should take beyond the published guided learning hours,” an AAT spokesperson said.

“We are assured that in the 14 month model guided learning hour requirements are more than met because of the balance of time apprentices spend in college.”

Apprentices recruited by the AAP spend three days a week learning in an FE college before working with the employer for two days.

McEvoy-Robinson says the employer pays the apprentice for between 30 and 37 hours each week, although in reality they only work for two days.

Despite this, the NAS website states: “Employment must be for at least 30 hours per week, except in the minority of circumstances where the learner cannot complete the full 30 hours.

“In these cases employment must be for more than 16 hours per week.”

AAT says the balance between learning and working on the job is “justified” by AAP.

An AAT spokesperson said: “Accountancy is unusual as an apprenticeship framework in that the skills and underpinning knowledge components are linked within the qualification.  One consequence is that all underpinning skills/knowledge assessments are college-based.

“AAT therefore considers that the balance in the 14 month model is justified.”

A spokesperson from Financial Skills Partnership , the Sector Skills Council for finance, accountancy and financial services, told FE Week: “we are unable to discuss this at this stage as it [AAP] is currently under review by NAS and the Skills Funding Agency.”

More than half of ‘margin’ student places – with tuition fees of less than £7,500 – have been handed to further education (FE) colleges.

A total of 20,000 places have been divided by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) between 190 universities and colleges.

However, 9,643 places have been distributed between 35 higher education institutions (HEIs), with 10,354 places between 155 FE colleges. It comes after a bidding process which began in October when HEFCE published its approach to implementing the control on the number of full-time students universities and colleges can recruit for 2012-13.

Ministers announced plans for “core and margin” places in a White Paper last year, months after MPs voted to raise tuition fees in England to a maximum of £9,000 per year.

A statement from HEFCE said: “The core and margin process was introduced by the government with the aim of increasing student choice and supporting a more diverse higher education sector.”

Bids were assessed on “criteria of quality, demand and cost” and only those with average fees of £7,500 or less were eligible.

HEFCE received bids from 203 institutions for 36,000 places. Direct funding will be given to 65 FE colleges they did not fund in 2011-12.

These include Hartpury College and Newham College of Further Education, which secured 352 and 294 places respectively.

However, Nick Davy, HE policy manager at the Association of Colleges, said some universities had withdrawn places from the sector.

He said: “The quality of college bids through the core and margin system has led to an allocation of around 10,500 additional full time student numbers for the sector – an increase of 25 per cent on present numbers.

“However, this figure is brought down substantially by the practice of universities withdrawing indirect student numbers from the sector.”

The AoC’s latest research, from December, shows more than 26 per cent of colleges indirectly funded by HEIs are experiencing a cut of 10 per cent of places or more.

Also, 14 per cent of those colleges have been informed by a partner HEI that they intend to withdraw all entrant student numbers from 2012.

Mr Davy added: “AoC estimates that the growth in entrant numbers actually is nearer to seven per cent, a long way from the government’s intention to significantly support degree level growth in the college sector.

“The core and margin system is thus a complicated step in promoting growth in degree level courses charging below £6,000 a year.

“AoC would argue that there needs to be a considerable increase in margin places to achieve the government aim of creating a more cost effective and accessible HE sector.

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) has released the application forms and guidance document for the Employer Ownership of Skills pilot.

The tender documents, released last Tuesday, outline how businesses can bid for up to £250 million of direct government funding over the next two years.

The first round of provision, worth £50 million, will pay for projects which deliver skills development and vocational training, such as apprenticeships, from August 2012 to the end of July 2014.

Skills minister John Hayes said: “The government recognises that it is businesses themselves that are best placed to judge what skills they need to grow.

“That is why we are stepping back and empowering companies by giving them direct access to funding and the freedom to create training programmes, including apprenticeships that directly address skills gaps.

“I encourage firms to seize this opportunity to bring us innovative and powerful ideas that will help their businesses to grow and create a more prosperous economy.”

The guidance document published by UKCES asks employers to explain the “package” of activities which they hope to offer, but does not suggest which skills should be developed.

“It is an opportunity for employers to propose where and how Government and employers can co-invest most intelligently,” the guidance document states.

Successful bids from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) will receive a minimum investment of £250,000 from the government.

For larger firms with the manpower spare to go through this process it might not be a problem, but for smaller firms which don’t have that luxury this looks like a minefield they will want to avoid.”

Large employers and enterprises, or those bidding as part of a consortium, will receive at least £1 million in comparison.

The guidance document states that bids should have a particular emphasis on “ensuring a substantial and meaningful learning experience” for young people aged 16 to 18.

It later adds that proposals should include apprenticeships as a ‘core element’ alongside additional recruitment schemes such as work experience.

The application form, also published today, says submissions will need to demonstrate how the additional training will be designed and led by employers, as well as how it addresses the skills needs of an industry, sector, supply chain or locality.

The form also says bids will need to show how the proposed project will “contribute to the long term growth or performance” of employers which are involved.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) say the application process appears to be “a particularly long winded process”.

An FPB spokesperson said: “Employers are already drowning under mountains of paperwork so more complicated form filling on this scale will no doubt turn off many employers.

“This is also a bidding process – so no guarantee of success at the end – this is unlikely to make it look any more attractive.

“For larger firms with the manpower spare to go through this process it might not be a problem, but for smaller firms which don’t have that luxury this looks like a minefield they will want to avoid.”

The guidance document says employers will need to show that their proposal will provide additional activity and development, rather than training which would have occurred regardless.

The document adds that funding will also need to provide a “step change” in the size, quality and relevance of vocational training and skills progression.

John Walker, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said: “The FSB fully supports the concept of employer ownership of skills, but we do have some reservations about how the needs and interests of small and micro businesses will be served in the current prospectus – the promotional document inviting companies to put in a bid.

“The short time between the release of the prospectus and the deadline for submissions will make it difficult for small businesses to get together and develop innovative proposals.

“The need for a single employer to sign and lead the bid, rather than a group of employers, will probably mean that small businesses will probably have to participate alongside much larger companies who will drive the agenda.”

The pilot cannot be used to fund the development of skills which will only benefit one specific employer, or company-specific training such as induction processes.

Other training excluded from the first round of bidding includes driving lessons and piloting skills, as well as one off training sessions designed to meet employers’ legal requirements, such as first aid, food safety or health and safety.

The Employer Ownership of Skills pilot is also not designed to fund learning or further training delivered through higher education.

Bids for the first round of funding need to be submitted by April 26, 2012.

(The application forms for the pilot can be downloaded here and here.)
(The guidance document can be downloaded here.)

The general secretary of the University and College Union (UCU) is pledging to put more resources on the frontline after securing a landslide re-election.

Sally Hunt retained the post after defeating her only opponent Mark Campbell by a margin of 6,835 votes. She won 73 per cent of votes cast.

The huge margin of victory is more than five times greater than when Sally was elected as UCU’s first general secretary in 2007, when she won by 1,346 votes, although she faced more opponents during that campaign.

Despite her massive majority, Sally, in her first interview since her re-election last week, said: “On a personal level, it was a relief,” before adding: “It’s not something you ever get used to.”

One of the key themes of Sally’s manifesto was to expand UCU’s employment and legal resources, so members can get “even faster advice and representation”, while also increasing the amount of union staff working in support of negotiators.

A ballot for which, Sally says, will be sent out next week.

To do this, she intends to reduce UCU’s national executive committee from its current membership of 70 to “no more than 40” in the future.

She said: “Improving support for members and branches in the current climate is not an optional extra, it is essential to protect our people wherever they work.

“I stood on a platform of improving services for members and supporting branches, campaigning on what matters and giving members more say in the union’s decisions.

“Achieving this will mean making difficult choices, such as reducing the size of our national executive committee, to that of other unions in order to put more resources on the front line.”

Another key theme of her manifesto was for UCU’s membership to have a “greater participation” in union activities.

Sally wants members to have a “direct say” in what UCU does and cites the recent ad-hoc ballots, on issues such as membership to the Institute for Learning (IfL), as an example for how they can build on this in the future.

She said: “Any union that wants to function, and function well, has to have a way of encouraging its members to engage in key decisions.”

However, despite the plea for greater involvement in key decisions, the election itself saw just a 12.8 per cent turnout.

Sally said: “I wasn’t surprised (by the turnout).

“I would have liked it to be larger, but I wrote to members four times by e-mail and every member got the option to see the manifesto.”

Another priority for Sally will be the sale of Britannia House, in North London.

As previously reported by FE Week, the building was proposed for sale at an estimated price of £12 million after the merger of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) and the Association of University Teachers (AUT) to form the UCU in June 2006.

However with the building unsold, concerns have been raised about the union’s ability to pay of its debts, while UCU insists it is “unwise” to gauge what the financial situation is with the union until the sale has been completed.

Sally said: “It’s coming along at the speed of a snail, but it’s coming along. It’ll take as long as it takes.

“It’s been frustrating, but I can’t make the market move any faster than it is.”

The results for UCU vice-president and other elected officials are to be available this week.