CELEBRATING APPRENTICESHIPS IN WILTSHIRE
By Fiona Scott , Features Editor
NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP WEEK 2017
This year marks the tenth anniversary of National Apprenticeship Week - Monday March 6 to Friday March 10 - which celebrates the positive impact made by apprentices in UK businesses . Events will be held around the UK and will bring together employers and apprentices to celebrate the success of apprenticeships over the last decade . Nationally the scheme is run by the National Apprenticeship Service and its aim is to continue to raise awareness of apprenticeships as a route to a great career .
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Apprentices are a very important part of the economy here in Wiltshire with many employers large and small , recruiting new talent into the local workforce .
One big local employer which currently is inviting applications for apprenticeships is BMW Group with 40 places across three UK manufacturing sites in Swindon , Oxford and Birmingham .
The team have designed an intense selection process to attract the best candidates who will get the chance to work directly alongside skilled and experienced employees in a range of roles including engineering , maintenance , finance , IT , business and communications .
Jason Gaskell , Manager of Apprentice
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to attract the very best young and talented people to come and work for us .”
Kelly Monaghan and Tyler Knock , both aged 18 , joined the Maintenance Engineering apprenticeship programme in August 2015 after finishing their GCSEs .
“ After leaving school I wasn ’ t certain that going to university would necessarily lead me on to a job and so I applied for an apprenticeship with BMW ,” said Kelly .
“ One of the things I love about it is the fact the scheme combines a real mixture of both theory and practical which is the best way to learn I think .”
Tyler said :“ I ’ m really happy working in what is a very hands-on role . I ’ ve always been interested in cars and the mechanical side of
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Apprenticeships start in August 2017 but the closing date for interested applicants is Friday March 13 .
One small business which is about to recruit a new apprentice is JP IT Solutions , run by Wiltshire-based Jason Parrington .
“ Apprenticeships work for me because I am able to train them in the way we work with our clients . At this level , it ’ s about being able to communicate with people , before having the technical background to resolve the problems .”
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“ I now feel confident in talking to clients and helping them with their technical questions , queries or challenges .” |
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Jack Hayward , Systemagic |
BMW apprentices
“ it ’ s given me that opportunity and the chance to work with so many different people , of all different ages and experience ”
Training Programmes at BMW Group UK , said : “ Apprenticeships give young people the chance to get their careers off to a flying start and are essential for us to develop the future talent needed for our business .
“ We have three state-of-the-art manufacturing sites and there are some fantastic opportunities available . We want
18 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017 things so I knew that I wanted to work with them in some way but I just wasn ’ t sure how .
“ I applied for the apprenticeship and it ’ s given me that opportunity and the chance to work with so many different people , of all different ages and experience . It means that even in a short time I feel I ’ ve learnt so much .”
Jason Parrington , JP IT Solutions
Jason believes a new apprentice will also provide increased support in the office and that this will , in turn , bring in more client work .
He said :“ Taking on an apprentice is a commitment – it ’ s a two-way commitment or it will never work . It ’ s a commitment to the person , the college and to our business to develop the person and coach them . I ’ ve recruited apprentices in previous roles so am utterly confident the right apprentice will work for us .”
Twenty-one year old Jack Hayward has just qualified after completing two years of an advanced apprenticeship with IT company Systemagic .
Jack said :“ It ’ s been absolutely brilliant . The amount I ’ ve learned is unbelievable looking back . It was more than I could ever have imagined .
There are major changes coming to the way in which apprenticeships are funded which appear to have been largely welcomed by employers . On April 6 , the new apprenticeship level will come into force in England . This is part of the Government ’ s plan to train three million more apprentices by 2020 ( announced in 2015 ).
The Government is introducing the levy and it will fall on those larger businesses with a pay bill of more than £ 3 million . Those businesses will have to pay 0.5 per cent of their total pay bill to the government to fund apprenticeships minus an allowance of £ 15,000 .
This will in turn allow these businesses access to a digital apprentice service account and they will also be able to access funding for their own apprentices . However all employers should be able to access this digital platform by 2020 .
Alongside these new measures is a register for apprenticeship providers where those organisations will be subject to government scrutiny around quality and finance . Providers of apprenticeship training in Wiltshire include organisations such as Wiltshire Council and New College Swindon but also other companies such as Green Labyrinth , also in Swindon and Mizuna Training in Malmesbury .
Any training providers with an inadequate rating from Ofsted will be excluded from the national register .