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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Three Scottish electrical businesses will each receive £6,000 through Powering Potential, an initiative from SELECT and Luceco Group intended to help employers meet first-year apprentice employment costs. SELECT said the grants were presented on 25 September 2026 at The Balmoral in Edinburgh.
Which firms received the grants?
SELECT named three longstanding member firms as recipients, describing them as small and medium-sized enterprises with a record of recruiting and developing apprentices.
| Area | Firm | Apprentice supported | Grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| East | V C Electrical, Gullane | Reece Michie | £6,000 |
| West | T Walsh Contracts Ltd, Ayr | Thomas Shirkie | £6,000 |
| North | A B Electrical Scotland Ltd, Aboyne | Ritchie Pirie | £6,000 |
The three awards total £18,000. The initiative is employer support; the announcement does not describe grants paid directly to apprentices.
What can the funding help pay for?
The grants are intended to offset the cost of employing first-year electrical installation apprentices, particularly wage costs during periods when apprentices attend college. SELECT’s announcement does not provide a detailed spending breakdown or say that the money is restricted to a specific expense beyond that purpose.
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Tony Walsh, owner of T Walsh Contracts Ltd, described the pressure on smaller employers: “The cost of taking on an apprentice is massive – in the first year they are in college for 17 weeks, which can make it unaffordable for some small businesses.” The 17-week figure is Walsh’s account of the first-year college time in his example, not a schedule established for all apprenticeships.
Who is behind Powering Potential?
SELECT and Luceco Group launched the £18,000 initiative, with development support from the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT). Luceco also donated electrical equipment to the three apprentices, but SELECT did not identify the equipment.
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SELECT said survey responses pointed to high wages and low employer funding as major barriers to recruiting apprentices. The announcement gives no survey date, sample size, methodology or numerical results, so it does not establish how widespread those barriers are.
What the participants said
Ian Hunter, Luceco Group UK Trade Sales Director, said: “As someone who started my own career as an apprentice, I know first-hand the opportunities that apprenticeship training can create.”
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Reece Michie, an apprentice at V C Electrical, said: “I am looking forward to gaining practical experience on site, learning from qualified electricians, developing new skills and working towards becoming a fully qualified electrician.”
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Can employers or apprentices apply?
The announcement names the selected recipients but does not give application instructions, eligibility rules for a future round, or a timeline for further awards. It also does not say whether Powering Potential will run again, so no open application opportunity or recurring grant programme is established.
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