Brackmills Industrial Estate aims to employ 150 apprentices
Businesses on Brackmills Industrial Estate are rallying together in a bid to support young people and employ more apprentices.
The estate, which is a Business Improvement District (BID), has set itself an ambitious target of employing 150 apprentices by year end.
Research towards the end of last year revealed that the 150 Brackmills-based businesses currently have just over 40 apprentices between them. To boost numbers and achieve their ‘150’ target the estate’s executive BID board plans to organise a series of education events throughout 2012 and join forces with specialist organisations across the county.
The first apprenticeship event, exclusively for Brackmills companies, will take place on Thursday 22 March at Caswell Road-based Festo Ltd, a leading pneumatic and electrical automation provider on the estate.
John Corrigan, Chairman of the Brackmills BID Board, said: “We are passionately committed to supporting young people and employing apprenticeships is something the estate as a whole feels should be at the heart of our focus. At this first event we will be bringing experts in apprenticeships together with Brackmills employees, to explore the ins and outs of taking on an apprentice.
“Themes such as the skills gap, low cost of apprentices and training benefits will be explored and businesses will be encouraged to ask probing questions. Not all businesses will be able to employ an apprentice, but some of our bigger firms may be able to employ more than one, so our 150 apprentice target feels realistic.
“It isn’t just the apprentices that get something out of this arrangement. The companies themselves will see that by recruiting in this way they get a blank canvas which allows them to develop the apprentices in a way that best suits the company needs. The people who are taken on by the companies will have been through at least two sets of interviews and the company has the final say on who they take on.”
As a Business Improvement District (BID) Brackmills companies are already used to working together, supporting each other and pooling resources. The BID Executive board, made up of representatives from across the estate, is leading by example and recently recruited its own apprentice, 17-year-old James Langer.
James, who joined the estate just a few days after leaving school, said: “I feel incredibly privileged to be working for Brackmills and to have found a job so quickly after leaving school. Staying on to do A levels simply wasn’t for me, so being in the workplace and learning along the way is fantastic. I now work closely with the Estate Manager to make sure BID funds are spent well, to organise events, and help the board, co-ordinate litter picks, conduct estate surveys and much more. Every day is different and helping to organise this apprenticeship event is just one of my jobs.”
Book your place at the event by emailing chris.barker@brackmillsestate.co.uk
Posted by: Brackmills Industrial Estate Limited
