Motor finance apprenticeship gets government approval
The Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) has been given the green light to develop a motor finance apprenticeship.
The finance industry trade body announced last week that it had won government approval for the plan and will now work with members, brokers and dealers to devise a training standard that highlights the skills and knowledge needed by employers in the sector.
According to the FLA, the high quality apprenticeship is expected to offer an alternative to university but could also be combined with higher education to offer industry experience.
Adrian Dally, head of Motor Finance at the FLA, commented:
"The motor finance industry provides rewarding careers, and many of its jobs, including the customer-facing roles in dealerships, are demanding in terms of the required levels of regulatory knowledge and customer service. The apprenticeship standard will build on the industry's existing training programmes while helping to attract and retain the next generation of talent.
We're working with industry experts who will help us create a standard that will benefit apprentices, employers and motor finance customers."
The Motor Finance Specialist apprenticeship is expected to be up and running by 2020.
Separately, the FLA has released new figures showing a continued increase in the number of cars sold on finance deals. New business in the point of sale (POS) consumer new car finance market grew 13% by value and 7% by volume in November, compared with the same month in 2015.
In the used car market, new business was up 8% by value and 5% by volume.
Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA, said that the in the 11 months to November 2016 the POS consumer car finance market reported overall new business volumes up 9% compared with the same period in 2015.
