Three Scottish Firms Receive £18,000 Apprentice Funding Boost

Three small electrical contractors in Scotland have each received £6,000 towards the cost of employing a first-year apprentice through a new £18,000 funding initiative from SELECT and Luceco Group.

The Powering Potential scheme was announced at SELECT’s President’s Lunch on 25 September 2026. It is designed to help small employers meet some of the wage costs associated with first-year apprentices, who spend significant periods at college as part of their training.

Three firms receive funding

The grants have been awarded across the east, west and north of Scotland.

• V C Electrical in Gullane, East Lothian, is supporting 18-year-old apprentice Reece Michie.
• T Walsh Contracts Ltd in Ayr is supporting 19-year-old Thomas Shirkie.
• A B Electrical Scotland Ltd in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, is supporting 17-year-old Ritchie Pirie.

Watch: Powering Potential apprentice funding announcement

The funding was presented at The Balmoral in Edinburgh by SELECT President Darren Crockett and Ian Hunter, UK Trade Sales Director at Luceco Group. Luceco also donated electrical equipment to the three apprentices.

Recipients were selected from SMEs and long-standing SELECT member firms with experience of recruiting and developing apprentices.

The initiative was developed with support from the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust, which manages Scotland’s Modern Apprenticeship in Electrical Installation.

Apprentice costs remain a challenge for small firms

A SELECT survey found that high wages and low employer funding are among the biggest barriers to recruiting apprentices.

For smaller contractors, those pressures can be particularly significant during the first year of training.

Tony Walsh, owner of T Walsh Contracts, said first-year apprentices spend 17 weeks at college, which can make recruitment difficult for some small businesses.

“The cost of taking on an apprentice is massive,” he said.

The new funding is intended to help offset some of those costs while apprentices complete the early stages of their training.

SELECT Managing Director Sharon Miller said the partnership was a practical example of industry supporting employers, while stressing that wider funding challenges remain.

“While this funding will make a difference to these three SELECT members it is only a fraction of what is needed and is not a replacement for proper funding across the board,” she said.

Miller said increased support for apprenticeships would be needed to help address skills shortages and grow the future workforce.

Support beyond the grants

As well as receiving financial support, the three apprentices will be invited to visit Luceco Group’s headquarters in Telford.

The visit is intended to provide an insight into manufacturing, product development and the wider electrical supply chain.

For the apprentices themselves, the scheme provides another step towards completing their qualifications and building careers in the electrical sector.

Ritchie Pirie said a previous apprenticeship opportunity had fallen through the previous year, while Thomas Shirkie said he had wanted to become an electrician since completing work experience at school.

SELECT says its members include around 1,200 businesses employing more than 15,000 people and 3,500 apprentices.

The organisation said Powering Potential is intended as targeted support for participating employers rather than a replacement for wider apprenticeship funding.