Australian training, recruitment and labour hire provider Ashley Services Group has restructured its training division to account for reduced government funding.

The firm’s market update, released today, says significant state and federal funding changes for the training of unemployed workers continue to have a detrimental effect on the business.

This is particularly so in the states of Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, where the firm is looking to rationalise its training facilities to concentrate on the New South Wales and Victoria markets. 

A strategic review resulted in a move to diversify its training revenue, including the expansion of corporate training in the telecoms, hospitality and children’s services; expansion of it international business; and the delivery of diploma and advanced diploma courses.

That diversification, though costly in the first half of the 2016 financial year, has now started to gain traction, it says.

For example, the 4,000 telecoms student target has been reached, the hospitality student base has reached budgeted levels, and the firm won a contract with Bosch Security Systems to train more than 5,000 technicians.

Its market update adds it has began a search process with the view to reconstructing its board and to replace Ross Shrimpton as managing director as he moves into a non-executive director role.