Small firms in Wymondham and Diss can claim £500 or £1,000 towards an apprentice. Only 12 grants per district, and they run until March 2028.
Small employers in Wymondham and Diss can claim £500 or £1,000 towards the cost of taking on an apprentice, and the scheme now runs to March 2028.
The money comes through Building Futures, a project delivered by Apprenticeships Norfolk. Its scheme page states plainly that Building Futures “is funded by South Norfolk and Broadland District Councils”. That is a change. When the grants launched in February 2024, the councils said the funding came from the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The two districts are now paying for it themselves.
The two grants
The grants are described as micro grants, and they are meant to cover the cost of getting an apprentice started rather than their wages:
- £500, nine available per district, for employers hiring an apprentice aged 16 to 24, who therefore also qualify for government apprenticeship incentives
- £1,000, three available per district, for employers hiring an apprentice aged 25 or over, who do not qualify for those incentives
Both run until March 2028 or until they are fully claimed, whichever comes first.
That is twelve grants and £7,500 for the whole of South Norfolk, a district of about 150,000 people. It is a small pot, and the numbers are published precisely because it is first come, first served.
Grants are only available to employers who have already taken the free practical support on offer. They are not a standalone application.
Who can apply
Apprenticeships Norfolk sets three conditions. An eligible employer must:
- be creating an apprenticeship or skills placement at a trading address in South Norfolk or Broadland
- have an annual payroll under £3m, so it is not subject to the Growth and Skills Levy
- not have started the process of setting up the apprenticeship yet
That last condition matters. If you have already begun arranging an apprenticeship, you are outside the scheme, so the support has to come first.
What else comes with it
The free support package is the larger part of the offer, and it is not limited by the twelve grants. It includes:
- a skills analysis to work out which apprenticeship or training route fits the business
- promotion of the vacancy through Apprenticeships Norfolk’s social media
- free online training for the people who will manage and mentor the apprentice
- peer mentoring through the Talent Together programme
- guidance on government funding and incentives, and wage and cost forecasting
- access to levy-funded training through the Levy Support Scheme, where it applies
What it means for you
- If you run a small business in Wymondham, Diss, Long Stratton, Harleston or Loddon and have thought about an apprentice, ask before you start arranging anything. Starting first rules you out.
- The £1,000 grant is the one most likely to go unclaimed, because it applies to hiring someone aged 25 or over, which is not the usual apprenticeship route. There are three per district.
- Contact is through the Apprenticeships Norfolk contact form. There is no council application portal for this one.
- Check which district your trading address sits in before you apply. Broadland and South Norfolk share a website and a management team but remain separate councils until April 2028, and the grant allocations are counted per district.
Businesses already trading in the town are listed in our Wymondham business directory.
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