Ealing Council and West London College are asking businesses across the borough to create 25 new apprenticeships in 25 days, with the council offering to cover up to 100% of training costs. The campaign, which opens on 4 November 2026 with a networking event at Perceval House from 9am to 11am, targets employers of all sizes across Ealing’s seven towns.

Recruitment and training support runs through the Ealing Borough Apprenticeship Scheme (EBAS) and West London College. Employers are asked to commit to an apprenticeship by the end of November 2026, after which the council will agree a recruitment timeline with them and monitor whether the role leads to someone starting work.

Since EBAS launched in June 2026, 13 people have started apprenticeships with borough employers, including five Ealing residents, and a further 15 residents have secured jobs through the scheme. The council is also introducing an EBAS Candidate Network programme offering advice and interview preparation to residents aged 16 to 30.

Ealing Council, which set a £423 million budget for 2026/27, funds EBAS apprenticeship training through its levy transfer scheme, building on an in-house apprenticeship programme that has placed around 370 apprentices since 2007. West London College is a further and higher education college operating three sites in Ealing, Hammersmith and Southall: Ealing Green College, Hammersmith and Fulham College and Southall Community College.

The structural driver is rising youth unemployment alongside growing demand for vocational training, which prompted the council to extend its own apprenticeship model to employers across the borough for the first time.

Councillor Kamaljit Nagpal, cabinet member for decent living incomes, said apprenticeships help people take “their first step onto the career ladder” while giving businesses “access to new talent and fresh ideas.”

Ryan McCann, director of apprenticeships and business at West London College, said every apprenticeship is an opportunity for someone to “gain valuable skills, earn while they learn, and build a successful career.”

For the sector, the campaign confirms that councils are using levy transfer funding and time-limited employer commitments to turn apprenticeship demand into signed vacancies.

Source: ealing.news / room151.co.uk / aroundealing.com