VISION FOR THE FUTURE
CITY WORKERS PROUD OF APPRENTICESHIPS IN BUSINESS
LONG gone are the days when apprenticeships were only associated with trade jobs. Industries including marketing, law and finance are now offering apprenticeships too – and hundreds of thousands of people across the UK are signing up to them.
Rather than ending up at university burdened with debt, it’s a way for people to earn and learn on the job.
But it’s not just school leavers. There are also people who want to progress their career who are opting for the apprenticeship route.
Between 2018 and 2019, there were 44,000 people taking part in an apprenticeship in the South West, according to government data – a marginal rise of one per cent on the previous year.
Nationally, 742,400 people started an apprenticeship in England over the same period. Although the figure is high, it is still lower than before the new apprenticeship funding system was introduced in 2017.
Currently, all UK employers with revenues of more than £3million a year pay the apprenticeship levy.
The levy is set at 0.5 per cent of the value of the employer’s pay bill, minus an apprenticeship levy allowance of £15,000 per financial year.
The funds generated by the levy have to be spent on apprenticeship training costs and the government tops up the funds paid by the employer by 10 per cent.
Small businesses do not pay the levy, but these firms can draw on the money if they pay for five per cent of training costs, with the government covering the remaining 95 per cent, up to the funding band maximum.
But what makes people decide to take up an apprenticeship role? The Bristol Post spoke to some apprentices in different sectors to find out.
Katie Wilson, Hyde Lodge
Katie Wilson, 35, is care home manager of Bristolbased Hyde Lodge – a residential home for vulnerable young adults run by the Aurora Group.
She has worked full-time in the care sector since 2010, starting at Aurora Group as a support worker before being promoted to shift manager.
In 2019, Katie started a level 5 apprenticeship with Acacia Training in leadership and management of a health and social care setting, and by December she had been promoted.
She said: “Doing the apprenticeship shows that you can combine a full-time role with work-based training to progress your career.
“It has also been a great benefit to my employers. The course teaches everything you need to know to manage a care home to the highest standards, and the content is constantly renewed.
“This means that as a care setting we benefit from reviewing our own procedures in line with best practice as part of my work on the course, and it has also helped us to carry out research with the staff to inform our rota changes.”
Kim Welsh, executive principal at Aurora Group, added: “Katie is a great example to show how we encourage our staff to progress their careers in the care sector.
“She has worked her way up from support worker, to shift manager and team leader, and now is on her way to becoming a Registered Care Home Manager. We are very proud of her and her team at Hyde Lodge.”
Sam and Elliott Austin, Redrow Homes
Brothers Sam and Elliott Austin joined housebuilder Redrow Homes as apprentices in Bristol, to grow their skills in the property industry.
Sam says he wanted the opportunity to learn, be paid and gain qualifications at the same time, which is what Redrow’s apprenticeship offers.
While being an apprentice Sam has worked with the surveying, commercial and procurement teams, helping them with the dayto-day activities and visiting Redrow’s South West developments.
He said: “I am now in my second year and have been exposed to a range of potential roles in the property industry.
“I finish my apprenticeship this year and it will have given me the qualifications to go to university to hopefully study project management.
“As for the future, I would love to work for Redrow as trainee assistant buyer in its procurement team.”
After hearing about his older brother’s experience, Elliott also decided to apply to the apprenticeship scheme and joined Redrow in May 2019 as a technical apprentice.
“The support, kindness and
❝ Doing the apprenticeship shows that you can combine a full-time role with work-based training to progress your career
encouragement from the team at Redrow has definitely helped make this apprenticeship as good as it can be,” he said.
Lee Hawker, managing director at Redrow Homes South West, added: “We are thrilled to be attracting a new generation of talent in the South West.
“Our apprenticeships offer a unique type of training and nurture the skills of those individuals to help make them the business leaders of the future.”
Isabella MacDonald, Vision Express
Isabella MacDonald, 20, who attended Bristol Free School, has recently completed a 13-month scheme at Vision Express’s Westbury store.
She achieved a Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship in Health (Optical Retail), which is equivalent to five GCSEs.
She is now planning to start a full-time post at the Vision Express Cribbs Causeway store.
Isabella said: “I applied for the apprenticeship because I thought it would be interesting, and my
favourite part has been going to other stores to see how different they are from the one I trained at.
“Apprenticeships are a good way of learning on the job and can lead to a permanent position after graduation. It’s a good way of getting into the business.”
Vision Express chief executive Onur Köksal added: “Apprentices are an important injection of fresh talent into our business, and we’re committed to supporting them
through their retail and optical careers.
“We’re proud to be able to provide our own apprenticeship scheme that offers youngsters with a passion to learn, real opportunities to progress.
“Our apprentices have gone on to manage stores, become dispensing opticians and even study an Optometry degree, which just goes to show the breadth of opportunities available.”
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The support, kindness and encouragement from the team at Redrow has definitely helped make this apprenticeship as good as it can be Elliot Austin