Levy Match Leeds is a matchmaking service from Leeds City Council between local small-medium businesses (SMEs) and large organisations that pay the apprenticeship levy. Large organisations might not use all their apprenticeship training budget and, rather than returning that money to the national treasury, they can use Levy Match Leeds to transfer that money to SMEs in the city in need of apprenticeship training.
We built all the technology for this, including designing the 'dating' algorithm used by the service (in a session facilitated by the Council and featuring representatives from levy-paying organisations).
Technically speaking, it features:
- A clean and functional design that matches the branding of the Employment & Skills department
- Automated matchmaking, based on the apprenticeship requirements of the SME and any restrictions the levy payer may have on who they are transferring their money to
- A mutual consent system, where matches cannot proceed unless both parties are happy, and rematching happens automatically if someone is not
- Emails sent throughout the process, including infrequent 'nag' emails to remind people if action needs to be taken
- Automatic cancellation of matches if someone stops using the tool
- An admin dashboard for the Council to keep an eye on progress and proactively get in touch with organisations that might need help.
Levy Match Leeds was superseded by a national government programme in March 2022.
