Tag Archives: apprentice

Apprenticeships, Awards, News, North of England

Mechanic Lewis crowned apprentice of the year by Kinaxia Logistics

A young mechanic who helps to service and maintain Kinaxia Logistics’ fleet of lorries has won the company’s apprentice of the year award.

Lewis Brockbank, 20, joined Kinaxia in September 2021 on a three-year apprenticeship leading to a qualification in heavy vehicle maintenance.

He is based at Kinaxia group company Bay Freight in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester.

Lewis was nominated for the accolade by his line manager Dave Turnbull, who presented him with a trophy, framed certificate and Amazon voucher.

Dave said: “Lewis is always willing to learn and is a key team player. He works hard in all weathers and never complains. He’s willing to do any job at any time of the day and always keeps himself busy.

“He’s very competent at his job and has had glowing reports from college. He’s a very worthy winner of the apprentice of the year award.”

The training provider for Lewis’s apprenticeship is Mantra Learning. He is one of eight apprentices currently employed by Kinaxia. The group is recruiting for up to 10 apprentices this year.

Kinaxia, which has its headquarters in Macclesfield, Cheshire, employs more than 2,000 staff nationwide with a fleet of over 1,000 vehicles transporting goods for the retail, leisure, food and drink and manufacturing sectors.

The group has 2.7 million sq ft of warehouse facilities nationwide, offering contract packing, e-fulfilment, returns management, storage services and a complete distribution service.

Lewis, who lives in Mottram, Tameside, Greater Manchester, said: “I wasn’t expecting to win the award but I’m very happy to have done so and very grateful. It really means a lot.”

He added: “Initially, I wanted to be a light vehicle mechanic, and I completed a Level Two qualification at Tameside College. Then the opportunity came up to join Kinaxia, and I was thrilled to join the company.

“I’ve found myself really enjoying learning the job and helping to keep our vehicles roadworthy and maintained to a high standard.

“I think apprenticeships are the best option for people fresh out of school or college to get into an industry. I find that hands-on learning is more effective than just classroom learning. I’d definitely recommend an apprenticeship to anyone who may be considering one.”

Kinaxia is a gold sponsor of Generation Logistics, a government and industry-backed campaign highlighting the opportunities and career prospects available in a major national drive to attract young people to the sector.

Debbie Blackwell, people services director at Kinaxia, said: “Apprenticeships are key to the future of our industry. We need to invest in our colleagues and create new opportunities for diversified talent to support the growth and productivity of our business and create a skilled and qualified workforce.”

Apprenticeships, Law, News

Case for law apprenticeships proven beyond doubt

A whole generation of apprentices is helping to “future-proof” business for one of the West Midlands’ leading law firms.

FBC Manby Bowdler, which has offices in Wolverhampton, Redditch and across Shropshire, has 10 apprentices learning on the job towards becoming solicitors or paralegals.

HR Director Sarah Bond-Williams said apprenticeships were a key part of the firm’s employment strategy. She said: “We are working hard to grow the company, and to do that we need a full complement of skilled and talented staff.

“The apprenticeship scheme allows us to “grow our own” which, given the skills shortage across all UK industries, is helping to future-proof our workforce.

“Along with trainee solicitorships and advancement programmes for legal executives, our investment in apprenticeships is really paying off – and our staff engagement scores are the highest they’ve ever been.

“The ability to learn while they earn also makes a career in the law more achievable for young people who might be daunted by the costs and practicalities of going to university. There is a whole pool of untapped talent out there, and apprenticeships help us to find and develop it.”

Applications are now open for FBC Manby Bowdler’s 2023 apprenticeship intake. The six-year programme, delivered and awarded by the BPP University Law School, will lead to a full LLB (Hons) degree in legal practice.

Apprentice solicitors work to the same standards as all other solicitors and achieve the same qualification. Twenty per cent of the apprentice’s time is spent in formal learning and the rest spent working within the firm.

FBC Manby Bowdler’s current apprentices are paralegal Ayman Idrees and solicitors Lillie Pritchard, Rowan Jones, Abigail Noakes, Chloe Turner, Emily Shenton, Hannah Barker, Lara Sidell, Maisie Addinell and Noah Lloyd.

Apprenticeships, News

Giacom Nurtures Young Talent via Apprenticeship Pathways

As part of National Apprenticeship Week (7-13 February 2022), Giacom, a Hull-headquartered cloud solutions provider, is keen to demonstrate how it is promoting its grassroots and growing and developing internal staff. Giacom nurtures local talent, and with this passion, it offers apprenticeships within its Management, Marketing and IT departments. These apprenticeship programmes offer people the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills in the chosen sectors, gaining hands-on experience which can then be applied to future roles and careers.

Giacom already has 3 people on apprenticeship programmes, who work alongside colleagues to further support them during these courses. Anthony Heptonstall, Giacom’s recently promoted Sales Manager is working towards his Team Leader / Supervisor (Level 3) standard, which will also earn him a CMI Accredited Level 3 Certificate in The Principles of Management and Leadership. Anthony comments, “I’ve completed two apprenticeships previously for different subjects, and I’m very much a ‘learn by doing’ type of person. Doing an apprenticeship rather than a full-time college course allows me to learn new skills without having to take time out of work.” 

“Giacom has been fantastic in supporting my decision to enroll in this apprenticeship. What started as an option to take a 6 month course quickly escalated to a 18-month apprenticeship. Following my enrollment, I have been given the opportunity to take on additional responsibilities to contribute to my course. From this course, I’d like to enhance my leadership & management skills to provide the best support for my team so they can reach their goals in their professional life.”

Chloe Briggs is also undertaking a Digital Marketer (Level 3) apprenticeship, and explains: “Since working for Giacom, I have built skills in various areas which I can apply to my role as a Digital Marketer. Giacom has allowed me to gain knowledge and experience in a competitive sector, and enabled me to start a journey which may not have been possible without this opportunity. I’m excited to see what my next steps are after my apprenticeship.” 

The apprenticeship programmes run for between 18-24 months and offer apprentices an opportunity to further their personal and professional development. There is also an opportunity to stay at Giacom after the apprenticeship ends, which is what happened for Danny Manchester, who completed his Infrastructure Technical (Level 3) apprenticeship, and was offered a full-time position as a 1st Line Service Desk Analyst. 

Discussing his experience on his apprenticeship and working at Giacom, Danny comments: “To me, the most important part of an apprenticeship is being able to learn and earn at the same time, and this opportunity made that possible. Throughout my apprenticeship, l learnt lots of new skills that are now invaluable to my job role, such as technical skills including working with both software and hardware.”

“Working with Giacom now as a full-time employee is actually a very similar experience to when I was an apprentice. While on my apprenticeship, I learnt skills which I was able to transfer to my position now.” 

Becki Dooley, Training Manager at Giacom, concludes, “ We’re incredibly proud of Giacom’s learning culture, in which apprenticeships play a huge part across the business; from marketing, hosted infrastructure and IT to technical and management. The apprenticeships we provide not only enable colleagues to learn and implement their knowledge and skills at Giacom to achieve wider business goals, but they also support their personal and professional development, from college leavers to established managers.”

 

Awards, News

Apprentice site manager wins top award with National housebuilder

A 20-year-old from Enfield who is learning his trade as a site manager has been named one of Bellway’s apprentices of the year.
Raik Beyoglu, who was first based at the housebuilder’s QEII development in Welwyn Garden City, was recognised for his commitment and dedication to the role.
He was one of just five people from around 180 apprentices across the company to be highly commended in Bellway’s annual Apprentice of the Year Awards.
Raik spends four days a week on site and one day studying towards an NVQ in Construction Site Management with the National House Building Council (NHBC).
Part of his role as an apprentice involves shadowing multi award-winning site manager Mark Todd, who has received a Pride in the Job award from the NHBC for the past five years.
Raik, said: “I was very pleased to receive this commendation. A lot of hard work has gone into my time at Bellway and I am glad that it has been recognised”.
“It is a very rewarding feeling to find out that I received nominations from people outside my immediate bubble of work colleagues”.
“After finishing my A-Levels, I started working for Bellway indirectly, through labouring with an agency. This is how I met my future colleagues at Bellway, who took me under their wing and helped me get employed through the apprenticeship scheme”.
“I sort of fell into the industry, but I soon realised it was meant to be and I hope to be doing this for a long time.
“Every day on site is different, as there is always that little bit of extra progress. I leave work feeling accomplished at the end of each day, which is what I love the most about what I do.”
Rob Sapsford, Construction Director for Bellway North London said: “Apprenticeships offer young people a fantastic opportunity to have a real job and get hands-on experience, while also gaining the qualifications that employers need.
“We offer apprenticeships in a wide variety of disciplines, including bricklaying, plumbing and heating, business administration and team leadership.
“Raik has a bright future ahead of him in the construction industry and it is pleasing to see that his hard work and dedication has been recognised by his colleagues.”
Ashleigh Fenwick, Group Learning and Development Manager for Bellway, said: “We are incredibly proud of all our apprentices and trainees throughout the company, as we encourage and enable our newest recruits into a career within the construction industry.
“We currently have around 180 apprentices working at Bellway across all sectors of the business, from bricklayers to quantity surveyors, and our apprentice of the year awards celebrates each and every one of our future talents.
“This year, perhaps more so than ever, we wanted to say thank you and well done to our apprentices who had been faced with unrivalled challenges in light of the coronavirus pandemic. We received a record number of nominations and it was very difficult to choose our winners thanks to the excellent pool of talent at Bellway.
“We’d like to extend our congratulations once more to each of the winners at this year’s awards event and look forward to another 12 months of building excellence among the next generation of the housebuilding workforce.”
As a member of the 5 per cent Club, a movement of employers working to create ‘earn and learn’ skills and training opportunities, Bellway is committed to driving the recruitment of apprenticeships across the UK.
For more information about career opportunities with Bellway, please visit bellwaycareers.co.uk.

Apprenticeships, Construction, News

Young apprentice joins same housebuilding team as his dad

An apprentice has followed in the footsteps of his father by beginning work in the construction industry.

Jacob Southgate, whose apprenticeship is in carpentry and joinery, is currently working at Bellway’s Wavendon Chase development in Milton Keynes, whilst attending Northampton College once a week.

Jacob began working for Bellway at the beginning of September, joining the housebuilder’s Northern Home Counties division where his dad, Luke Southgate, is Sales Director.

Jacob, 17, said: “I will be working at Wavendon Chase for another two or three years under my apprenticeship – but if everything goes well, I will want to stay on for a more permanent role.

“I have always been interested in working in the construction industry. I remember spending time on site with my dad when I was in Year 9 and speaking with the carpenters who were working there at the time, which made me realise that this was what I wanted to do.

“I didn’t want to have a desk job. I like doing jobs where I can use my hands and be creative, and I can definitely do that working on a building site. I enjoy roofing the most. I’m understanding it well and I find it satisfying to work on.

“I think my dad is proud of the fact that I have started working in the same industry as him. I’m really enjoying my time here and have met a lot of great people. Everyone is really helpful, and I’ve learnt about roofing and joisting since starting.

“For anyone who is thinking of getting an apprenticeship to work with Bellway, I would 100 per cent recommend it – it would be the best decision for them to make. There’s a great chance for progression and you can learn about so many parts of the trade.”

Jacob’s dad Luke has been working at Bellway Northern Home Counties for just over a year. He said: “I am extremely pleased that Jacob has not only found himself an apprenticeship working with Bellway, but he is doing well and enjoying it too.

“Since I started working for Bellway last year, I have seen many young people join our team as apprentices, forging themselves a career in an industry that offers many opportunities for personal and professional growth.

“Bellway is a five-star housebuilder and we pride ourselves on providing much-needed homes built to a high-specification. Now that my son is a part of that process, he is already seeing first-hand how rewarding it is to be a part of a team that produces top-quality work.”

Bellway was awarded five-star status by the Home Builders Federation after more than 90 per cent of its customers said they would recommend the housebuilder to friends and family.
There is a range of two, three and four-bedroom homes available to purchase at Wavendon Chase, with prices starting from £230,000. Those interested can visit Bellway’s website or call the sales staff on 01908 891131.

To find out more information about careers and apprenticeships with Bellway, visit bellwaycareers.co.uk.

News

Summer Statement – Employment Trade Body responds

The Government’s ‘kickstart scheme’ aimed at getting 16-24-year olds into training – and the training incentives announced today are welcome but more needs to be done to ensure that the delivery mechanism of both apprenticeships and training is flexible enough to allow businesses such as recruitment firms to be part of the solution. That’s the opinion of The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), the trade body for the professional recruitment sector.

Responding to Sunak’s speech, Tania Bowers, APSCo’s Head of Public Policy said:

Recruitment sector can be part of solution

“We are optimistic about the Government’s plans – a highly trained and skilled workforce will obviously support the economic recovery but we are concerned that the delivery mechanism may be too rigid to allow recruitment firms to get involved in the delivery and implementation of the scheme. Young people working through recruitment firms would have the ability to work in a variety of different environments and gain multiple skills – our members are tapped into a multitude of employers across a wide variety of sectors and would be in a position to support and facilitate the scheme. We also hope that recruitment firms will be able to access the funding available for training for young people – and that it applies to PAYE employers so that agency workers can be included”

Apprenticeship Levy – more flexibility needed

“We are disappointed the Chancellor has not introduced more flexibility around the Apprenticeship Levy – we believe that the way in which levy funds can be used should be broadened to help re-skilling opportunities and facilitate the ‘skills pivot’ we will need to get people back to work. Currently the scheme can only be used to upskill employees on formal apprenticeship programmes so agency workers are excluded and the levy can’t be used for shorter term training, which would have been so useful during furlough.”

Job Retention bonus welcomed

“While we wholeheartedly welcome the Job Retention bonus which will help retain jobs, we were disappointed that the Chancellor chose not to reduce employer costs through an amendment to national insurance contributions – reducing employer costs while also putting more money in people’s pockets would have been a welcome intervention at this stage.”

Infrastructure spending will drive job growth

“We know from our experience of previous downturns that infrastructure spending drives job growth and so we welcome the investment designed to ensure a ‘green recovery’. However, the spending announced is still lower than that announced by Alistair Darling during the financial crisis and the Government must support the recovery by continuing the spending initiatives outlined in the 2020 budget.”