A new service to support businesses and employees at risk of redundancy due to Covid-19 will be launched in April by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA).

The West of England Talent Retention Platform is believed to be the first regional service of its kind in the country and will offer employers looking for new staff a place to share opportunities with other businesses who may be facing the prospect of making staff redundant.

It will be able to match an employee’s professional, personal and

transferable skills with a range of available job roles across a variety of sectors.

The scheme will be co-ordinated through a WECA-led Redundancy Response Group, which brings together Government departments,

employers, unions, local Councils and education and training providers and is available to any business in the region.

West of England Mayor, Tim Bowles, said: “Our economic recovery

depends on protecting the jobs of our skilled people in the West of England, and helping our businesses seize the opportunity to build back better.

“I want to make sure we keep our talented workforce in the region and help our businesses survive and thrive. The platform will match people’s skills with employers that want to grow and make sure that the whole West of England can emerge strongly from the pandemic.”

The Talent Retention Platform will help businesses that feel they need to make staff redundant understand the other options that are available to them and support business survival and growth.

Bath-based business, Cognisess, has developed The Talent Retention platform. Company Chief Executive, Chris Butt, said: “This new platform will support people to find the opportunities that best suit their skills, values and experience.”