Blog by Pete Wilkinson, Mr Fast & Flawless

If you are a decorator, then you will probably have heard of the CITB. They are the Construction Industry Training Board and for many years they were the joint awarding body for your decorating qualification.

If you were an apprentice then you may have been a “CITB apprentice”, I know I was. This meant that the CITB paid your employer a grant to take you on as an apprentice and also, they paid your college tuition fees. (Yes, it was not free!)

If you are now self employed or you have your own decorating business, then you will probably fall into a number of camps.

1. You have never registered with the CITB.

This may be because you are not aware of the grants available or that you have heard you have to pay a levy every year and this has put you off. If you are going to do some training yourself that you want funding for and you have employed a sub-contractor and your wage bill is below £80K then you could claim up to £5000 per year for any training that you or your sub-contractors want to do. This is an amazing opportunity and the CITB will pay the money directly into your bank account.

2. You are registered but never claimed any money.

This maybe because you don’t know what the process is, or you don’t really know how to fill the form in. If that’s the case, we can help because we are expert at it. Just email Tracey on courses@painttechtrainingacademy.co.uk and she will guide you through the process (for free!)

3. You are registered, and you have had an apprentice and you have claimed the grant for this.

Many employers have had apprentices and have been claiming the apprentice grant for years, but they are not aware of the separate “standards fund” grant. Again, if this is you and you are not sure what to do email us.

4. You are registered, and you have claimed the grant for an apprentice, and you have also claimed the £5000 standards fund for extra training.

You are a rare breed and it means that you are on the ball with your business. If this is you and you are looking for courses so spend your grant on then check us out on www.painttechtrainingacademy.co.uk or email us direct. We offer a range of cutting-edge courses for your business and would even design a bespoke course just for you if you had 5 or more people to send on the course.