Businesses in Cheshire and Warrington are being urged to take advantage of free training being offered to SMEs to help upskill staff, raise productivity and boost business growth.

A fund of £4m has been made available for businesses in the region through the Skills Support for the Workforce project, but businesses only have until spring next year to apply.

The scheme, which is funded by the European Social Fund, launched last year to give SMEs the chance for their staff to gain professional training across a range of skills and sectors.

There are around 795,200 people of working age living in Cheshire and Warrington, an area which offers particularly strong industry knowledge and skills in engineering, energy and business services sectors.

However, over the next ten years demand for skills in Cheshire and Warrington is forecast to rise significantly, driven by economic growth, the delivery of major projects and replacement demand.

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