Scheme targets on track as Wiltshire marks National Apprenticeship Week

A Wiltshire Council-led campaign to boost the number of apprenticeships in the county with a particular focus on helping them achieve higher level skills, is on target and progressing well.

The Wiltshire Apprenticeship Campaign seeks to grow the numbers of apprenticeships available in the county, urging more businesses to sign up and with a particular focus on encouraging learners to develop through the apprenticeships programme, up to higher and degree apprenticeships.

Last year there were almost 5,400 apprenticeships in Wiltshire and this year the target is 5,600 to help meet the Government’s aim to create three million starts nationally by July 2020.

Working alongside partners, the campaign is encouraging more people to benefit from the skills of being an apprentice and advising employers of the valuable contribution an apprentice can bring to the workplace.

So far this year the figures are looking encouraging, especially for young people aged 16 to 18 with 700 in this age group taking up apprenticeships from August to December 2015 – a 39 percent increase on the same period in 2014.

As part of the campaign, council officers have been visiting business leaders to offer advice on how they can get their company involved with an apprenticeship programme.

Success stories include Poppy James, who was taken on as marketing apprentice at Inspire by Wessex Chambers in 2014, and has recently been promoted to the permanent role of marketing and events assistant at the organisation.

“Since being at Inspire I have no doubt that I have interacted with the majority of the marketing spectrum in a matter of months, allowing me to learn on my feet,” said Poppy.

Not only have I gained a great deal of experience in marketing but I have also been able to gain an understanding of the working environment and people skills through working in the office, networking and communicating with different types of people each day.”

Poppy is the third apprentice hired by Inspire. Chief executive Rob Perks said: “They have each brought something different to the role and to our organisation. Careful recruitment with a thorough interview process is critical to ensure that the person is a good fit for the organisation and that the experience we can offer them fits well into their career plans.

“Setting aside sufficient time for on the job training as well as their formal training pays huge dividends, otherwise they will end up doing only menial tasks, will not develop and will become demotivated quite quickly. All three have been hardworking, have appreciated the experience and have added value to our organisation.

“They have brought a young person’s viewpoint to a number of projects and have asked the simple questions that perhaps more seasoned employees might think are too basic to ask but need asking. We would happily repeat the experience again.”