Tag Archives: apprentices

Apprenticeships, Education, Energy

CES announces new apprenticeship programme

Leading energy efficiency company, Consumer Energy Solutions (CES), has announced it will be offering a two-year apprenticeship in NVQ Level 3 in Insulation & Building Treatments.

 

In contrast to regular apprenticeships, Swansea-based CES will be paying National Minimum Wage per age bracket to ensure fair compensation as the apprentices develop their skills and experience to accelerate their careers.

 

In addition, to improve accessibility, CES will provide an Internal Wall Insulation Apprentice Starter Kit to all apprentices, including PPE, key tools and storage items, as well as offering a £25 per night stay-away allowance.

 

The two-year course will start by covering comprehensive safety training and basic insulation techniques, before moving on to hands-on experience and soft skills development. In their second year, apprentices will aim to enhance their technical skills, work more independently and prepare for certification, if applicable. Modules will include quality control, project involvement and leadership and cost management.

 

Ben Strinati, Insulation Director at CES said: “We are thrilled to be offering this apprenticeship in NVQ Level 3 in Insulation and Building Treatments. It’s a fantastic opportunity for young people across south Wales to kickstart their career in renewable installation by learning the core skills and techniques to become a skilled professional in the insulation industry.

 

“We are honoured to be able to offer our support in providing apprentices with key equipment through the Internal Wall Insulation Apprentice Starter Kit and our overnight expense coverage, as well as paying all apprentices the National Minimum Wage. We want our learning opportunities to be as accessible as possible and leave our apprentices ready for the world of work. With our support options, we hope this opportunity will reach a wide range of young people, and we encourage anyone who is looking to kickstart their career to apply.”

 

CES has its headquarters in Swansea with permanent bases in south Wales, north Wales, west Wales and Exeter. It currently operates 42 teams of insulation installers, each of which includes carpenters, dry-liners, plasterers and multi-skilled installers, alongside eight dedicated loft insulation teams.

 

The company is committed to providing comprehensive training for all staff and arranges regular manufacturer training programmes and seminars to ensure installers are up to date with frequent regulation reviews and advancement in technology. Basic training starts with an NVQ qualification in construction and building treatments with further learning based on the energy efficiency measure and the method of installation. Additionally, all operatives receive annual training in the latest health and safety regulation, promoting a safe installation for themselves and customers.

News

Upskilling local Shropshire construction talent

As it celebrates 20 years in business, local manufacturer, Lime Green Products Ltd, is investing in its team and its technical capabilities as it expands, fuelling Shropshire’s construction talent growth.

Over the past five years, Lime Green has continued to invest in its apprentice and training programmes, alongside the redevelopment of its plant – representing over £2m investment – to offer new opportunities to local people.

Currently, over 50% of the Lime Green team are undergoing, or shortly starting, apprentices and industry training courses to develop their construction skillsets.

“This investment reflects our desire to raise the profile of construction materials that are made in the United Kingdom,” says Simon Ayres, co-founder and managing director, Lime Green Products.

“The amount of imported materials in the UK construction industry is frightening, and it’s increasing, despite the fact that rising prices and the carbon footprint of these materials means looking locally is much more efficient. At Lime Green, we’re always looking to source materials as much as we can locally, and we do the same when we’re looking for new employees”

Opening new career pathways

“Investing in our team’s training is critical to growing local talent, which will support our growth ambitions long into the future,” continues Simon.

“All of our apprentices are local to the area, and we prioritise courses with local training providers – including Telford College and AGL Training Ltd. It’s all about investing in and upskilling the local area.

“Looking forward, it’s not just about what our apprentices are doing now, but also about what they can go on to achieve. One great example of that is Toseef, who completed his level 2 in Performing Manufacturing Operations, before being promoted and beginning work towards his team leader supervisor level 3 course.

“We’ve also got experienced team members with no formal qualifications, who feel inspired by the culture of learning throughout the business and have opted to start college courses after 10 years in the business.”

Highly technical skillsets

Meeting the most exacting, world-class standards, Lime Green’s high-tech plant measures +/- 1g per tonne, which ensures a reliable product quality and unbeatable repeatability, especially when it comes to colour matching.

As a result, many of Lime Green’s job roles are highly technical and specialist. There’s often not someone locally, or even nationally, who has the skills needed – it’s about training people into the roles.

“Our research and development apprentices – Rachael and Callum – work closely with our chemist on specialist product developments, so we can continue to advance our product portfolio with lime materials that meet industry trends and solve our clients’ problems,” continues Simon.

“As part of that, they’re continually learning to apply practical skills, enabling them to use highly-technical testing equipment to record and report results that ensure robust product quality assurance.”

Fostering a culture of continual learning

“All of our team members are actively encouraged to consider new training and development opportunities,” explains Simon. “We’re a relatively small team, so the knowledge and skills external training brings to our business is invaluable.

“With a family-feel to our culture, we’re always looking to build long-term futures with our apprentices. Although some go on to incredible opportunities that would never have been possible before, many choose to develop with us over long periods of time.”

Lime Green’s investment in upskilling its team and local talent is at the core of its growth plans over the coming months and years, and long into the future.

To find out more, visit Lime Green Products or call 0800 538 5746.

News

Renowned Electrical Engineering Company Control Freaks Release Advice on How to Break into Industry

The world of electrical engineering is an incredibly diverse and rewarding career option for young people looking for a challenging and technically minded profession.

Electrical engineering could involve everything from project concepts and design to implementing, testing and maintaining equipment over time.

Clint Johnson, the Managing Director of renowned electrical engineering company Control Freaks Ltd is a firm believer in offering practical and effective apprenticeship schemes.

In the recently released blog post, Clint joins his colleagues, Electrical Engineer James Thomas and Electrical Engineering Apprentice Andrew Sadd, to offer their insight into how courses and apprenticeships helped to define their careers in the industry.

“I was introduced to automation when I was on a YTS scheme in the late eighties, and it was rather controversial at the time, and has been since, in fact.” Says Clint.

One of the biggest issues with the old YTS was the fact that young people weren’t receiving the development opportunities that the modern apprenticeships schemes offer.

Andrew Sadd, an Electrical Engineering Apprentice, is the newest member of Control Freaks and had this to say, “The attraction to this career started with computer programming, however I realised that I wanted something more practical that incorporated this skillset.”

Andrew, who has only been with the team for four months, said “my experiences with been very positive and they are an amazing team to work with and I look forward to my future experiences with the company as I become more qualified.”

Clint, when asked about the benefits of the modern apprenticeship when compared to his own experience, said, “I’m passionate about making sure that lads like Andrew can have a fantastic experience with us, so we can give them the knowledge and skills they need to go out and achieve whatever they want in this exciting field.”

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Apprenticeships, News

Apprenticeship use increases in the Thames Valley as fight for talent intensifies

As National Apprenticeship Week (7-13 February) gets underway, new research from Grant Thornton UK LLP shows that the Thames Valley’s mid-market is increasingly making use of apprenticeships as a means of upskilling their people at all levels.

With job vacancies and resignations at record highs, Grant Thornton’s latest Business Outlook Tracker* survey shows that there’s an upward trend of apprenticeship use in the mid-market which is set to expand in 2022. 52% of respondents in the Thames Valley region agreed that more of their people will be trained using apprenticeships this year than in 2021.

Employers saw additional strategic benefits to apprenticeships with half (50%) of the business leaders surveyed saying that formal development supports employee wellbeing and more than a third (36%) agreed that apprenticeships had helped to improve social mobility in their business.

The study found that mid-market organisations in the Thames Valley are now using apprenticeships at all levels of the business from entry level to senior management. Nearly half of those surveyed (48%) said that the Apprenticeship Levy had been a motivating factor in the increased use.

This growing use of apprenticeships in the Thames Valley mirrors the national picture. From the 601 UK-wide respondents to Grant Thornton’s latest Business Outlook Tracker* survey, all but one business said that they currently use apprenticeships to develop their people. This has increased from a similar study conducted by the firm in 2018**, when 86% of mid-market respondents said they used apprenticeships in their organisation.

Jim Rogers, practice leader for Grant Thornton in the Thames Valley, said: “With job vacancies and attrition levels reaching record highs, many businesses in the Thames Valley are facing a real struggle to attract and retain talent. To manage this challenge, many employers are turning to apprenticeship courses, as they provide a flexible, versatile and highly effective way to develop and attract skilled individuals.

“The agile nature of apprenticeships means that businesses are being ever more strategic with how they implement them in order to address important issues. We’ve seen this range from utilising apprenticeships to improve diversity in the workforce, achieving sustainable recruitment and replacing traditional graduate programmes with highly desirable qualifications. The ability to tailor apprenticeship courses to specific requirements is especially valuable and has seen businesses grow in-demand, valuable skills that their organisation requires, such as digital, finance and data analysis skills.

“Since the pandemic began, businesses have come to recognise that while they need to upskill their workforce to grow, there needs to be cost effective solutions in place to achieve this. This is why the Apprenticeship Levy has become an integrated part of Learning and Development funding for firms across the Thames Valley over the last few years, as it provides full funding for qualifications up to master’s degree level.”

As a leading employer of apprenticeships, Grant Thornton has long championed the benefits they can offer. Around 20% of Grant Thornton’s UK workforce are currently using apprenticeships for development and it also partners with leading training and education providers to deliver high quality, Levy funded, development programmes with practical application from the outset.

Marketing, PR and SEO, News

Marketing consultancy wants to build careers for young people and help businesses streamline their marketing department

Marketing consultancy company, Lagom Marketing, is offering businesses and start-ups a new way of building a marketing team. The virtual marketing director service will enable businesses to access senior-level marketing expertise without the cost of a salaried marketing director. Whilst virtual, the service aims to ensure companies feel like they have a dedicated in-house marketing director, developing strategy, as well as providing guidance, training, and support to junior team members.

Marketing we know can often be the first budget to be hit in a challenging economic environment. Whilst this can be an easy way to reduce costs, marketing is also one of the essential ways to get ahead and keep building a business. Lagom Marketing’s service will provide a personal and dedicated marketing director for its clients. This will include developing strategy and creating action plans, which junior teams can manage day-to-day as part of the team. This means that companies that may struggle to fund a senior marketer get the benefit of the expertise without the annual cost of the full-time salary.

Deenie Lee of Lagom Marketing says: “As the current pandemic continues to disrupt our world and our businesses, we wanted to look at a new way of working. This service means we can support businesses more cost-effectively and in a flexible and tailored level – which means that businesses can switch support on and off as and when they need. We work to build and grow an in-house team – we know our job is done when you no longer need us.”

In addition to providing strategic marketing support, the service can also assume the remote management of a junior team member or apprentice.

Deenie continued: “We all know in many businesses, marketing is done by someone wearing many hats. So, we wanted to find a way where we can support a business with strategic marketing expertise, whilst also taking on the time-consuming elements of managing a junior team to deliver it. This means that those trying to do three jobs in one can have more time to concentrate on the other two things.”

Whilst we are yet to see the full fall out of the current Covid19 crisis on the job market, we all know we are in for some tough times ahead. With the news that 13.4% of 16-24-year-olds are unemployed*, it is understandably a worrying time for young people trying to start a career. With Rishi Sunak offering incentives to get young people back into work such as the Kickstart Scheme and up to £2000 to hire Apprentices – help is available for business to employ young people. However, giving them the time to grow is not always possible in a challenging environment and a busy workforce. This virtual or remote marketing director service hopes to find a middle ground, which means young people can find work and businesses can give them the support them need without boosting the salary budget.

Deenie continued: “Giving young people an opportunity and the right support to thrive is a passion of mine, and we all know that the current economic crisis we find ourselves in will negatively impact young people. Through this new service, we are hoping that more companies feel able to take on young entry-level employees – knowing that we will take on the guidance, mentoring and support – in a personal way – which is focused on the outcomes for their business.

“The pandemic has left us with a feeling that we are all in this together and with so many young people being disadvantaged, it feels that collectively we need to find solutions to rebuild our businesses and our economy. For companies who want to employ a young person but are reluctant because of lack of time and specialist in-house knowledge, we offer a new alternative. From just £600 a month, we provide strategic planning and management of a junior team. Giving back time, providing knowledge, and saving money.”

Deenie concluded: “If we can adapt our model to support more businesses to keep their costs down whilst the country recovers and give junior marketers a good start in their careers to show what they can truly achieve, then it will be a good days work for me.”

Footnotes
Lagom Marketing is a strategic marketing consultancy founded by Deenie Lee. They offer strategic marketing consultancy support to businesses, alongside a unique mentoring service to help companies to grow their own talent cost-effectively. Over a 20 year career Deenie has worked in youth marketing, training and student accommodation, with roles at the National Apprenticeship Service, Campus Living Villages student accommodation and HSBC. You can find out more about Deenie and the consultancy at www.lagommarketing.co.uk.