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Around 100 staff have been left without pay after an apprenticeship training provider abruptly closed its doors weeks before Christmas.<\/p>\n
Acacia Training told workers last week it would \u201cshortly\u201d be entering insolvency due to \u201cexceptionally challenging\u201d economic conditions.<\/p>\n
CEO Victoria Sylvester sent an email at 4.52pm on Friday announcing with a \u201cheavy heart\u201d the company was \u201ctechnically insolvent\u201d and would not pay wages for November.<\/p>\n
She said a \u201cprolonged period of exceptionally challenging economic conditions\u201d\u00a0meant \u201cthe company\u2019s financial position has been placed under unsustainable pressure\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite doing everything we reasonably could to protect the business, our learners, and our team, it has become clear that this is no longer possible,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Sylvester thanked employees for their loyalty, resilience and \u201ccare\u201d shown to learners.<\/p>\n
Stoke-on-Trent-based Acacia Training, founded in the early 2000s, specialised in apprenticeships and adult learning for the health, education and wellbeing sectors.<\/p>\n
It is understood Acacia had taken on new employees and announced the creation of a higher education arm in the last month.<\/p>\n
Sylvester advised former employees to approach the government-backed Redundancy Payments Service and to call their local Jobcentre Plus to apply for benefits.<\/p>\n
For reasons that are unclear, insolvency practitioner Quantuma said it was unlikely to be formally appointed as an administrator before mid-December.<\/p>\n
Interim leader had \u2018no idea\u2019<\/p>\n
A social media post by Hannah Wheawall, interim managing director of Acacia, said she had \u201cno idea\u201d about plans to announce the business\u2019s closure by email and was \u201churt\u201d her colleagues were not given a \u201cfairer communication to the one that landed\u201d.<\/p>\n
Many of the workers are understood to have posted messages of surprise and dismay at losing their jobs \u201cwithout pay or redundancy\u201d and appealed for new roles on social media.<\/p>\n
But some appeared to have spotted signs of financial trouble after receiving warnings that the company failed to make the required workplace pension contributions this summer.<\/p>\n
One employee, who did not want to be named, called the situation a \u201cmess\u201d, particularly for staff who were less likely to qualify for statutory redundancy because they worked under a limited liability partnership arrangement.<\/p>\n
Another employee told FE Week she was concerned about \u201cvulnerable\u201d staff members in single-income households who \u201cdon\u2019t know how they are going to deal with things\u201d.<\/p>\n
The company sent its clients a letter advising them to find a new training provider through the government\u2019s apprenticeship provider and assessment register.<\/p>\n
Francesca Windsor, owner of Unlimitedcare Ltd, said her three apprentice staff who signed up with Acacia Training in May had been left \u201cabsolutely heartbroken\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sylvester and her business partner Jeremy Harbour, who own Acacia Training through parent company Vedere Holdings<\/a>, did not respond to requests to comment.<\/p>\n The businesswoman also co-owns apprenticeship training providers Logistica Training and Skillcert, and Samuel Hobson House, a care home in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs.<\/p>\n Apprenticeship growth<\/p>\n Acacia Training had provided apprenticeship training since 2019, growing from almost 400 apprenticeship starts in its first year to 979 in the 2024-25 academic year.<\/p>\n