1. The introduction of the Levy has, perhaps understandably under the circumstances, been received negatively or very negatively by the many employers with whom we link at Cambria.

2. Up until about 3-4 months ago awareness was also very low and patchy.  A small number of employers have been aware of the development for some time and have engaged with us and other agencies to try and plan to minimise the negative and maximise the positive impact of the Levy.  Others were much less informed and asked for advice from Cambria.  A final group, up until about 4 months ago, including companies of all sizes, knew nothing about the Levy.  We recently held a successful breakfast event to raise awareness, with over 70 attendees.

3. As an employer the Levy will cost Cambria over £200K pa.  This further complicated by around 15% of our staff residing in England.  This causes us problems as we have no trading base in England.
4. Being based along the national border, or being an organisation that has major bases in Wales and England provides complexity but also potential opportunity.  At Cambria we have applied to be on the SFA approved list of training organisations that can provide apprenticeships in England.  We are hopeful of achieving this, and this is very important, as we have a number of important customers based in England and/or with a significant number of English domiciled staff (but based in Wales).
5. The introduction of the Levy will provide additional challenges for organisations in the broader public sector.
6. In terms of specific categories of company, the Levy brings with it particular challenges for recruitment agencies.
7. A wider issue longer term, particularly along the border, is transferability of apprenticeships, clarity, and the need to ensure that apprenticeships from Wales are high quality and at least as good as those in other parts of the UK.
8. In addition to delivering apprenticeship training, at Cambria we are now expanding our own apprenticeship programme.  This is partly linked to the Levy, but also more generally to the fact that we value and want to support the development of apprenticeships - if they're good enough for our customers, they are certainly good enough for Cambria as an employer.