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geographical areas and our apprenticeship
programme is not a high priority. That
said, we see a functional apprenticeship
programme as an important component of
our staff training and development in the
longer term.
“I see apprenticeships as a credible
alternative to university, particularly in
a fast-paced industry like print and IT
technology where hands-on training and
experience are incredibly valuable. This
industry moves so rapidly that bringing
apprentices through who truly understand
our business ethos and the sectors in
which we operate will be crucial to
building our company in the future.”
Aimee Timmins:
“Our view is that if
we can start a young person straight
from college we have a better chance
of encouraging our culture into their
working practice. Our intention is that
our apprentice will receive training and
support in every internal department of the
business and cover holidays and absences.
Their skills will develop over time, enabling
us to fit them into a specific role in the
future.”
Julian Stafford:
“To date, we have
supported twenty five apprentices,
seventeen of which are still employed with
the company. One of the first apprentices
has progressed very well, now working
in his second year as a fully-fledged field
engineer servicing photocopiers.
“Apprentices are incredibly important
to Midshire’s business growth. By training
local apprentices to our standards they
have the skills and knowledge needed for
a successful career in the company.”
Chris Roll:
“Apprentices are fundamental
to our business today and will continue
to be so in the future. RDT has excellent
employee retention by any standards and
this is primarily down to the fact that we
develop staff across the whole of our
business, which in turn builds loyalty and
trust.
“We run an academy that provides
staff with a programme of development
based upon their chosen career path.
Apprentices benefit significantly as they’re
able to gain accreditation across all the
key business functions. This gives them
valuable knowledge of our business that
you wouldn’t typically gain by employing
within a specialised field such as sales or
finance.”
Beth Fairweather:
“We recognise the
industry is expanding to include more
IT/Software solutions, which is why we
implemented the apprenticeship scheme
a couple of years ago. We decided
to choose this particular path for our
service apprentices so that we have the
right people with the relevant skills to
complement our existing teams at this
time of change. We see this very much as
an investment in our longer term future so
that we maintain our position as market
leader in our sectors.
“We have some members of staff from
earlier versions of the scheme who have
been with us for over 25 years; many of
whom are in our service division.”
PITR:
How do you balance
apprenticeships alongside
investment in other areas of
workforce training?
Scott Walker:
“It’s as simple as managing
the diary correctly and planning ahead. I
allocate half days where possible to review
with my apprentice’s assessor and ensure
I’m allocating tasks to allow her to achieve
the required modules in her qualification.
The time I’ve been spending on other tasks
are now becoming tasks she carries out.
This gives me the balance I need to focus
on developing existing staff.”
Mark Smyth:
“We specifically identify
areas of our business and roles that suit
apprenticeships for key reasons such as
business growth and demand, and future
resource planning, especially in service
and support where a continued increase in
clients drives demand. The apprenticeship
service provides a good method for future
planning. As their skills develop, they add
more value to our business and at that
point they also feel more valued and their
contribution is very recognisable.”
Colin Griffin:
“At present apprenticeships
are less important to us than training our
existing workforce. We continually develop
our staff and several of our team are
currently undergoing specialist training in
fairly niche sectors, such as high volume
production print, which will provide us
with further opportunities for growth once
they’ve qualified. This, in turn, will provide
additional opportunities where we can
offer apprenticeships, under the guidance
of experienced managers and technicians
who can really bring the best out of young
people and shape them into valuable
members of staff.
“We think that this strategic approach
to training will bring us the most benefit in
the long run, by expanding the knowledge
of our senior team members and then
providing training opportunities for the
next generation of technicians.”
Aimee Timmins:
“We have a coaching
culture and having an apprentice would
encourage other members of staff that
currently don’t have the confidence to
coach colleagues to feel comfortable
possibly with a younger, inexperienced staff
member to develop their own coaching
skills.”
Julian Stafford:
“The Midshire Academy
and our apprenticeship programme is just
one small part of what we do to remain at
the forefront of the industry and to provide
opportunities for our staff to grow and
develop within the company.
“We have an ongoing commitment
to provide the very latest training on all
manufacturers we use. Our teams are
trained by the manufacturer trainers at the
manufacturer’s training centres.
“We believe this gives an unparalleled
level of training without business
interruptions. Regular team meetings
continued...
...continued
Colin Griffin,
Blackbox Solutions
I see
apprenticeships
as a credible
alternative
to university,
particularly in
a fast-paced
industry like
print and IT
technology
where hands-
on training
and experience
are incredibly
valuable
