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Aimee Timmins:
“It is our intention to
use the current £1,000 contribution to
motivate the apprentice. We have also
made the decision to pay more than the
minimum apprentice wage.
“The idea of creating a dedicated loyal
workforce by initially taking on energetic
young people far outweighs the costs of
setting up an apprenticeship scheme. If a
business trains an apprentice well, then in
turn that young person will feel a certain
loyalty to the company that trained them.
“The administration on small firms
will not discourage Sharples from taking
on apprentices. A well supported and
trained apprentice that fails to meet our
expectations is more likely to discourage
us from looking into additional apprentices
than the additional administrative red
tape.”
Julian Stafford:
“Young people are
a really important part of our business.
I can’t see these changes making a
difference to what we do or how we do it.
“Working with and supporting
young people through work experience,
apprenticeships and through our academy,
is one of the aspects of running a business
I enjoy the most.”
Chris Roll:
“There are clearly pros
and cons from the new scheme but we
don’t really have enough information
yet to understand how it will impact our
business. We have every intention to
continue developing apprentices at RDT,
as they have proved essential to nurturing
new talent. It would take a significant
increase in costs for us to reconsider
apprenticeships in the future.”
Beth Fairweather
: “This will be a
very big change, particularly for smaller
businesses. Like all businesses, Danwood
is conscious of costs. However, we also
recognise the value the apprenticeship
programme brings so it is a case of
balancing the business needs against costs.
“This will be a key factor in
determining how much we would expand
the programme, but either way we are
committed to supporting young people
and giving them the tools to be able to
enter the wider workplace while helping us
deliver excellence to our customers.”
Scott Walker,
ZenOffice MPS
Mark Smyth,
Vision
Scott Walker,
ZenOffice
Financial
feasibility
would
certainly be
important, but
we’d also need
to consider
whether the
apprentice
would bring
additional
value in other
areas, such as
their particular
skill set,
personality,
aptitude, work
ethic and so on
are conducted where training needs are
addressed and courses booked, if ever the
lead time on a course is too long, we will
give the engineers training alongside a
senior trained member of the team.
“We periodically have manufacturer
training updates on the user features of
the machines, which ensures everyone in
the business is as knowledgeable as they
can be on all devices. We have recently
delivered a management training course
and are about to undertake a customer
service training programme for all
employees.”
Chris Roll:
“From our perspective, it really
isn’t an investment that requires much
consideration as apprentices have always
proved to be a reliable ROI compared to
other workforce training options. Direct
costs are typically negligible, and providing
you’re allocating the necessary time and
have the right processes in place to identify
individuals that have characteristics that
match the business profile, it becomes a
simple decision.”
Beth Fairweather:
“We have our own
purpose-built training facilities with
dedicated trainers to support our existing
employee training needs, which we are
then able to extend to the apprenticeship
framework. In 2016, we’re aiming to
provide over 5,000 training delegate days,
which is more than ever before. The needs
of developing our existing teams and those
within the apprenticeship programme are
primarily the same training needs, just
phased differently based on experience
levels.”
PITR
:
In spring 2017 the way the
government funds apprenticeships
in England is changing. Larger
employers will be required to
contribute to a new apprenticeship
levy, and those that are too small
to pay it will have 90% of the costs
of training paid for by the state.
There have been concerns expressed
that this may impose additional
administrative red tape on smaller
firms and discourage them from
taking on apprentices at all. Will
this change the way you view
apprenticeships/prompt you to hire
or stop hiring?
Scott Walker:
“In my opinion, the only
people raising concerns are those that
don’t see the true value of apprenticeships.
I’ve heard stories of apprentices being
employed as cheap labour to carry out the
tasks others don’t want to do.
“An apprentice is an investment for
the future, an individual who will bring
huge value to the business over the
coming years, it’s not an overnight fix. The
costs (even to small businesses) are truly
balanced by the value they bring from day
one. Yes, you need to allocate more time to
them in the early days, it’ll take some time
before they’re confident and able enough
to carry out the majority of required tasks,
but when you get them to this point, their
value speaks for themselves. Consider what
most companies pay an apprentice (£7 to
£8k PA), it’s a great return on investment.”
Mark Smyth:
“I do hope we will be
able to continue to use the service,
however it needs to focus on giving young
people an opportunity with good, sound
commercial value to businesses and many
organisations remain concerned about the
new levy. We will focus on understanding
the full extent of the changes and their
financial impact.”
Colin Griffin:
“When considering taking
on an apprentice, we’d need to consider
the business case and whether the
appointment would benefit the company.
Financial feasibility would certainly be
important, but we’d also need to consider
whether the apprentice would bring
additional value in other areas, such
as their particular skill set, personality,
aptitude, work ethic and so on.
“So, the change to the government
funding wouldn’t really affect our decision
– we’d be more focussed on selecting the
correct candidate who would be interested
in developing their career with us once
they’ve completed their apprenticeship.”
