Business Referral Service
Matching quality provision to business needs
The Skills Academy works with Providers to ensure excellence in provision and offers them a direct route to market, providing them with opportunities to engage with employers seeking quality training or skills consultancy through an open and competitive referral process.
The business referral system is a web-based referral platform where employers’ specific training and skills consultancy needs are identified, and Accredited Providers and Associates are encouraged to respond with an outline proposal. The Skills Academy then helps the employer select the solution that best meets their needs.
All Accredited Providers and Associates are invited to sign up to our Business Referral service.
“We're delighted that this matchmaking service is working so well for both employers and providers. It means employers can be sure they are getting the best and most cost-effective solution and our Accredited Training Providers are put directly in touch with them to meet those needs.
- Philip Jones, Chief Executive,
National Skills Academy Process Industries
How it works
The Academy engages employers and helps them to identify their training needs, completing a Business Referral form with an outline of their requirements. The Business Referral can be completed during a visit from one of our Regional Managers, or downloaded and emailed direct to the Network Services team.
The referral is stripped of all identifying detail (company, town etc) and provided with a Unique Reference Number. Each referral is then posted on our Accredited Provider Forum, and a copy is emailed out to all our Accredited Providers and Associates.
Our Accredited Providers and Associates are encouraged to produce a brief outline proposal based on the information provided in the Business Referral form within 5 working days, and submit this to the Academy.
The Academy will work with the employer to filter these and select the solution that best meets their needs based on e.g. the quality of the proposal, costs, availability of funding, and timescales for implementation. The employer may then choose to meet or negotiate with one or more providers before finally awarding the business.
A commitment to pay the relevant business referral fee is required with each proposal. This is invoiced when the Provider or Associate is appointed by the employer to deliver the training or consultancy.
In the unlikely event that we are not able to meet an employer’s needs through an Accredited Provider or Associate, the Academy will then offer the business opportunity out to other external providers, who are charged a substantially higher referral fee.
To maintain the quality of the service we ask the employer to provide a summary of the training i.e. rate the provider based on the delivery of the training and to indicate why they awarded the business to the provider chosen.
What does it cost a provider?
The business referral fees are dependent on the type and value of the training or skills consultancy to be delivered. Please contact the Network Services team for more information
