In line with the Government’s announcement to increase the funding of vocational training by an extra £222m a year and create an extra 100,000 apprenticeships across the UK, business leaders in the North West are this week calling on construction firms to continue saying ‘Yes To Apprenticeships.’
A campaign, managed by Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and its Apprenticeship training provider Skills Solutions, ‘Yes to Apprenticeships’ has brought together key individuals from across five business sectors including; Business/Finance, Automotive, Engineering/Manufacturing, Construction and Hair Care to champion the initiative.
Employers can employ an apprentice from as little as £5,000 per annum as part of the Group Training Association (GTA) initiative.
Standing on the steps of the Manchester Town Hall, Mark Howden (head of Regeneration, Balfour Beatty Capital ), Bill Shepherd (vice president, BNY Mellon), Thor Rooney (manager and senior director, Nicky Clarke Manchester), Mark Smeeton (managing director (Motorsave Ltd – Swinton) and Nathan Bluer (managing director, Torkington Engineers), all cemented their support in helping to raise awareness of the benefits to businesses of taking on an apprentice, encourage the construction firms to expand their already positive response to Apprenticeship programmes and ultimately create more Apprenticeship vacancies.
Speaking about the campaign, Mark Howden from Balfour Beatty Capital, said: “More and more employers are saying yes to appointing an apprentice and we absolutely want to encourage this across the board. In order to ensure the industry continues to have highly skilled and effectively trained workforce in years to come, it is essential that organisations carry on embracing Apprenticeships.
“Saying yes to taking on an apprentice is saying yes to trained staff, yes to the next generation of talent, yes to Government funding and yes to the future or your company and industry – so the question is, why wouldn’t businesses want to say yes?”
Heather Green, director of Apprenticeships at Skills Solutions, added: “Despite an increase in individuals signing up to take part in apprenticeship programmes across the region and a renewed interest in Apprenticeships from within the media, there is still sometimes a lack of awareness or understanding of what they can really offer.
“The reality is Apprenticeships offer businesses increased longevity of service, the ability to ‘home grow’ talent and the chance to immerse an individual in the ethos of a business from day one, which together are without question beneficial to any business whatever the sector.
“So, by bringing together this team of ‘champions’ we’re looking to spread the Apprenticeship message far and wide in the hope that this will empower those that have already said yes to taking on an apprentice, to encourage other organisations to make a commitment in considering offering Apprenticeships as a viable business option.”
Recent research, commissioned by the National Apprenticeship Service, showed that over 80 per cent of people are more likely to use a business if it offers Apprenticeships to young people. There is even some talk that public sector procurement might be geared towards these businesses in the future, offering even more reason to take this road than ever before.
Businesses that want to learn more about recruiting an apprentice through the ‘Yes to Apprenticeships’ programme please visit www.gmchamber.co.uk/yes or email apprenticeships@gmchamber.co.uk
