The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has welcomed the announcement of a new £20 million investment for the upskilling of staff within the UK's automotive supply chain.

Announced as part of the Employer Ownership Initiative, the funding will aim to help businesses take advantage of opportunities for growth that were recently highlighted as part of a survey from the Automotive Council.

According to the poll, an additional £3 billion in revenues could be achieved by UK-based suppliers if they act to improve the skills and training of their workforce.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in partnership with the Department for Education has therefore acted to provide match funding of up to 50 per cent for those companies that successfully bid to employ new training programmes for their staff.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: "Investing in skills is fundamental to the future growth of the UK automotive sector. This £20 million fund to help supply chain businesses develop their workforce is a very welcome initiative which we hope will encourage further investment in training."

He added every business associated with the UK automotive industries, be it components manufacturers to suppliers, is therefore now being encouraged to make use of this fund.

The first round of applications for firms keen to take part in the match funding scheme will open on May 6th.

At present, the UK automotive sector and associated supply chain employs approximately 700,000 individuals across the country and the industry as a whole is valued in excess of £60 billion per year. Overall, it accounts for ten per cent of all UK experts.

Skills and enterprise minister Matthew Hancock concluded: "By having a highly skilled workforce, companies will be able to grow and meet the imminent and longer-term needs of automotive manufacturing companies."

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