The EOP, jointly funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Education (DfE), was launched in November 2011 to help businesses design their own skills training schemes in order to generate growth.
Funding bids, which must be matched by the applicants, can be entered by single companies or by consortia of businesses with joint proposals to create mutually beneficial training packages such as sector-led apprenticeship schemes, and in-house skills and training workshops.
SMEs, described in the applicant guidance as employing less than 250 people, can enter minimum bids of £250,000 while large companies, with more than 250 employees, must enter minimum bids of £1m.
The BPIF was one of 34 successful round one applicants, announced last September, securing a £1.1m grant in a partnership bid with Berforts, from almost £67m that was up for grabs. The fund will allow the organisation to offer 200 fully funded places on print industry specific training programmes.
Expressions of interest for round two must be lodged by 1pm on 11 March in order to be given access to the bidding process and completed applications need to be filed by 28 March.
Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) which administers the programme, said: "Business leaders must think strategically about their personnel - equipping workforces with the skills they know are missing, or developing those areas which have the potential to support organisational growth.
"We know that there aren’t any quick solutions to creating a highly skilled workforce, but projects such as the EOP offer a unique opportunity for businesses to collaborate and create ambitious bids which can begin to address skills issues at a sector or geographic level."
BIS minister Matthew Hancock said: "For Britain to compete we need as a nation to deliver the skills employers need. This is a unique opportunity for companies across all industries to secure their futures by addressing their skills needs now.
"I would encourage businesses – large and small – to be ambitious and innovative in their vision for how the fund can help them grow, from creating new apprenticeship programmes to setting up specialist training academies.
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