With offices slowly beginning to fill once more, many fintechs have already taken advantage of the government’s Kickstart scheme. Another deadline for a further batch of cohorts is rapidly approaching at the end of the month.
As part of its pledge to support the government’s Kickstart scheme, The Fintech Power 50 and its partners, Innovate Finance, Rise created by Barclays, Level 39, and iFinance Academy, will close applications for the next Kickstart submission at midnight, Friday 28th May. Once successful, applicants currently aged 25 and under and on Universal Credit will be allowed to apply and interviews may begin.
The programme offers:
- A £1500 grant for companies to host a 6-month placement (know as a Kickstart) and have the Kickstarter’s wages fully paid for.
- The wages are paid for a 25 hr working week at national minimum wage and also include national insurance and pension contributions.
- Grants available until 31st December 2021.
- Any company industry can apply, not just fintechs.
- There is no cost to the company.
- You can apply for more than one placement at a time subject to the Eligibility Criteria.
To date, the scheme has created 31 hirings (Kickstarters that are currently in position), 104 companies have registered interest and approximately £234,000 in grants and wages are being processed. The Fintech Power 50 have secured 202 approved grant placements so far, with an approved grant total of 1.52million.
Through The Fintech Power 50 and its partners, there is also access to free training and development courses for the Kickstart, and launching soon there will also be an opportunity to include knowledge retention based AI Clever Nelly.
Mark Walker, CEO and Co-founder of The Fintech Power 50 said, “At The Fintech Power50 we provide support as a gateway company that allows us to submit group grant applications in line with monthly registration deadlines. This allows us to coach and advise a company through each application for a higher chance of success, which means that if one deadline is missed they can at least register their interest to prepare an application for another month.”
Fintechs currently interviewing for their own Kickstart’s include: Confused.com, Fintech Wales, Funding Options and Yoello.
Companies already with a Kickstart in place include Leading Point, Ember and Accountancy Cloud who have each benefited from the scheme.
Rajen Madan, CEO of Leading Point said, “Employing a kick-starter has been a really positive experience at Leading Point. It aligns well to the heart of our mission as a Fintech intersecting the old world with the new in Financial Services. We have been impressed with the quality of talented new professionals, and grateful to Fintech Power 50 for supporting us through the process comprehensively.”
Aaron Shaw, Co-Founder and CEO of Ember said: “The kickstart scheme has been fantastic for us. We’ve taken on three exceptionally talented individuals who, otherwise, we would have likely overlooked.
“We were initially sceptical on the calibre of candidate that we would be able to hire through the scheme, but two months in and those fears have been well and truly quashed.”
And Wesley Rashid, CEO and Co-Founder of Accountancy Cloud said: “As an early adopter of the Kickstarter scheme I was surprised how frictionless the process was. Once we provided our business case and job specifications a lot of the heavy lifting was done, we managed to get a quick uptake of referrals and a strong pipeline of candidates. It’s a no-brainer, and we’re looking forward to welcoming more Kickstarter’s into the Accountancy Cloud family.”
According to a recent report from the London School of Economics and Political Science, more than one in ten people aged 16-25 have lost their job, and 60% have seen their earnings fall since the coronavirus pandemic began. Under the government furlough scheme launched at the beginning of the lockdown, under 25s were more likely to be furloughed than any other age group, and were also the most likely to lose their job, with youth unemployment rising to 13.1%.
You can find out more information and apply to join the next cohort of up to 30 new roles here. The deadline for the next round of applications closes at midnight on Friday 28th May.
