Apprenticeships: Ask an Employer

To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, we asked a number of employers to give their take on apprenticeships, and share positive stories on the impact they have had on their business.

1) Why did you decide to hire an apprentice?

Matt Carpenter, Future Stars Coaching, said: “We have run an apprenticeship programme for the last 7 years, and this has been highly beneficial to our company. Apprentices learn the way we operate as a company, and gain experience on the job.

“Year after year, the course at Weston College has produced excellent coaches for us, with former apprentices now holding management and head coach positions in the organisation.”

Lara Short, found similar benefits for Bristol Sport: “Apprentices hold a willingness to learn, this injects a fresh dynamic into Bristol Sport Foundation and allows us to mould the individuals into the employees we would naturally recruit.

“Hiring an apprentice also provides opportunities to upskill our current team of coaches, they often find themselves supporting and educating the apprentice, which is extremely rewarding for both apprentice and employee.”

Keri Pearce, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP), added: “We have taken the decision to offer apprenticeships as a way of offering a supported developmental role which enables us to upskill and enhance the knowledge, skills and behaviours of our new-to-role employees which will essentially enhance the level of care our service users will receive from our services.

“We are also committed to developing our own staff and by offering apprenticeship positions it offers a step onto the ladder for staff who do not already hold the qualifications needed for the role.”

2) How easy was it to hire an apprentice?

Asa Weston, Combined Scaffolding, said: “The process in finding, interviewing and appointing apprentices was made very easy with the help of Weston College.

“We started looking for apprentices in the summer of 2020 and we now have two new great employees, both are keen and really enjoying their times at Weston College.”

Matt Carpernter, Future Stars Coaching, added: “The team at Weston College make it really easy. They communicated with us throughout the whole apprenticeship process and helped us to advertise, find candidates and get our coaches their qualification!”

Keri Pearce, AWP, agreed, saying: “Weston College are very supportive. We have a good working relationship with them which makes it easy to communicate and co-ordinate apprenticeship delivery to suit the needs of our services.”

Weston College – Molly, apprentice at Thatchers – photo courtesy of Weston College

3) How has having an apprentice impacted your team/business?

Simon Bone, Weston College, said: “Having an apprentice in the team has been great and certainly had a positive impact. Our apprentice quickly settled into the team and brought new ideas and a fresh perspective to the table, which has had a direct and positive impact on our work and productivity as a team.”

Lara Short, added: “With our apprentice’s age’s ranging from 18-21, they bring skills and experiences which offer new perspectives. With some of our apprentices joining Bristol Sport Foundation immediately after education, they draw off their teacher experiences and implement this into their own coaching, providing innovative ideas and methods that are shared across the workforce.”

Tracie Leahy supported this statement, saying: “Apprentices have made us think differently as a team – Having a positive impact. They bring new ideas, speak to younger people about being an apprentice, and gives us that younger voice, allowing us to keep in touch with all age groups.

Gareth Davies, commented: “To date, the rate of development has increased which has enabled the team deliver a wider range of solutions to meet deadlines. Furthermore, there are new areas of specialism that have been brought to the team which has proven beneficial. The recruitment process enabled us to ensure we were able to find someone who had the right attitude and appetite for the type of development the work, and the apprenticeship, offered.”

Weston College is now offering higher level apprenticeships – photo of Joel Keen, courtesy of Weston College

4) Has there been any success stories with your apprentice?

Keri Pearce, AWP, mentioned: “Since the introduction of the Levy in 2017, we have retained 97.4% of our new to role apprentices. Many of our apprentices have been appointed into higher banded substantive roles before the completion of their apprenticeships.”

Lisa Fletcher, Weston College, added: “We have had many success stories over the years, the majority of our apprentices have progressed onto the next level apprenticeship with us, or have been offered full-time permanent employment based on the impact they have made to the College whilst in their apprenticeship.”

Matt Carpenter, Future Stars Coaching, said: “We have had many successes throughout the years. We have a coach currently in the role of cover manager, who was a product of the apprenticeship program. Through the years since qualifying he has been able to growing in experience and skill, growing in to a very important role, especially with the abnormality of this year.”

5) Has your apprentice exceeded your expectations – if so, how?

Tracie Leahy, said: “Dedication and resilience are the main two areas that I have seen exceed my expectation, especially in the current climate!”

Keri Pearce, mentioned: “We have had many apprentices that have exceeded expectations, which has enabled them to gain further roles with AWP and also continue onto other apprenticeships.”

Simon Bone, added: “Our apprentice has certainly exceeded expectations, supporting the whole team in developing and improving our processes and has been a key part of team successes. She has trained and developed staff both within the team and the wider organisation and used the skills she has learned to develop a robust administration system that the whole team and wider college use for tracking our work.”

Bristol24/7 supported WestonCollege’s #300in100 apprenticeship campaign.

6) Finally, why do you love apprenticeships?

Gareth Davies, said: “I believe Apprenticeship pathways are much more aligned to employer needs – especially for growth areas such as data analytics, cyber security and engineering. Degree Apprenticeships are not only beneficial to the employer, with a long-term investment in staff, but also to the learner; employment, degree and experience – all in one package.”

Matt Carpenter, commented: “We love having enthusiastic, motivated coaches, with a love for what they’re doing. As a company and manager, it’s exciting to watch the coaches develop into experienced and skilled individuals. This wouldn’t be possible without the help from the college and attitude of the apprentices.”

Lara Short, added: “Bristol Sport Foundation are strong advocates of providing apprenticeships, we believe it offers great value to our workforce and is superb for passing on knowledge to the next generation of coaches. Members of staff who are trained internally are typically highly motivated, committed to the company and supportive of BSF’s vision and values.”

Lisa Fletcher, concluded with: “From experience I know that having an apprentice in the team boosts productivity, it has also enabled us to develop people in a way that really fits with the specific skills we require. We have also offered apprenticeships to our existing staff as a way of improving their training, this has proved particularly useful in developing management skills.”

If you are interested in taking on an apprentice, you can contact the team at Weston College on 01934 411 594, or email them: apprenticeships@weston.ac.uk.

Main photo: Weston College

Read more: How my apprenticeship benefitted me

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