Derbyshire County Cricket Club first partnered with 3aaa in '14.GETTY IMAGES
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is assessing the potential impact of its "principal partner" -- Derby-based training provider Aspire Achieve Advance (3aaa) -- being placed in administration, according to Zena Hawley of the DERBY TELEGRAPH. The company, which was one of the biggest apprenticeship training providers in England, told up to 500 staff and 4,500 learners the news last Thursday and "immediately handed out redundancy notices and closed courses." The Department for Education, which "pulled the plug on funding to the company," submitted the findings of investigations into the firm to police via Action Fraud. The Derbyshire police department confirmed it is involved. A deal between the cricket club and 3aaa was first struck in '14, resulting in the ground being renamed The 3aaa Country Ground -- the first time the club had a naming rights partner. A report by education news website FE Week suggested the partnership deal "could be worth just under" £500,000 ($657,550) (DERBY TELEGRAPH, 10/15). In London, Rupert Neate reported police are "investigating allegations of fraud" by 3aaa. The company was placed into immediate administration after the Department for Education "pulled all of its funding from the firm" following an investigation. The "collapse" of the biggest apprenticeship provider has left 4,500 apprentices at companies including Ocado, Virgin, Volkswagen and National Grid "at risk of failing to complete their courses." The DfE's Education & Skills Funding Agency allocated more than £31M to 3aaa last year for apprenticeships and adult learning schemes. Separate to the fraud allegations, documents revealed 3aaa spent more than £1.6M ($2.1M) of its "mostly government-funded income" on professional sports sponsorship. The money was spent on sponsorship between '15 and 18, despite the firm recording a £2.8M in pre-tax losses in the 18 months to Jan. '18, according to unpublished company accounts (GUARDIAN, 10/12).
