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National Apprenticeship Week 2019: The positive impact of Apprenticeships

National Apprenticeship Week 2019: The positive impact of Apprenticeships

This week is National Apprentice week in the UK, which is designed to celebrate apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on individuals, businesses and the wider economy.

Here at Shredall SDS Group we have several apprentices working in various teams across the business including; Sales, Accounts, Compliance, Operations, Warehouse and Business Admin.

“Our most recent apprentices - James, Abbie, Matt and Kelsey have revitalised Shredall SDS Group! They have brought a fresh approach and positive attitude into the workplace, which has had a knock-on effect on existing staff.

By embarking on an apprenticeship, our apprentices are showing themselves to be willing to learn and have brought new ideas into the company.” Kelly Hodges, HR Assistant

Simon Linforth, Commercial and General Manager continues, “The individuals that have completed their apprenticeships in the past couple of years are valued and established members of the organisation.

Jack has developed his skill set after completing his apprenticeship as a warehouse labourer and is now on the road working as a driver servicing the needs of our customers daily.James and Matthew have successfully completed their initial apprenticeships and progressing onto advanced level courses.

All our apprentices are bringing fresh ideas and a new youthful feel to the workforce, making it an exciting and energetic place to be.”

Hear from our Apprentices

James Davies our Compliance Assistant

“After completing my GCSE’s, I still had no real direction of where or what I wanted to do with my life. I decided to give A Levels a shot studying Business, Economics, Government and Politics and Psychology. However, after 3 months of studying I decided to look for further options, knowing that university wasn’t something I wanted to do. One of my friends at the time had recently completed his first year in an apprenticeship and had nothing but positive things to say about them. The idea of learning, gaining a business knowledge as well a sense of independence, responsibility and maturity whilst also getting paid seemed like a no brainer!

I’ve since been at Shredall for 14 months now having completed my first apprenticeship in Business Administration I can safely say I have learnt more than I could have ever expected. I knew little about compliance when I started and since then it’s been a constant learning curve. 2018 was a big year, with the business having 10 audits and GDPR! On top of that, I was given multiple projects throughout the year which were made my responsibility.

Meanwhile I continued to further my knowledge on Business as I was completing my apprenticeship. I already had a GSCE in Business studies but the Business Administration Apprenticeship put that into context and made me think of certain aspects from a business environment rather than a text book.

After completing my first year as an apprentice and gaining a Business Administration qualification as well as an ICT one, I really couldn’t praise the apprenticeship scheme enough. It’s a brilliant Post 16 option for which I believe isn’t explored enough. With many different types of apprenticeships out there, there really is a viable option for everyone!

I am now looking to start my second apprenticeship which will be even more specific to my current role. The Safety, Health and Environment Technician Apprenticeship is a new course which is exactly what I was looking for.”

“This was my first experience of bringing an apprentice into the compliance team – and I have not been disappointed. As a manager, I saw the addition of an apprentice to my team as an opportunity to develop a young person with a compliance mindset from day one. James quickly worked his way through the compliance induction programme, applying knowledge to the job in hand, and proving himself very capable. He is a fast learner with a positive, proactive approach to his work and an unexpected level of maturity. I am looking forward to managing James as he progresses into his next, more targeted apprenticeship.” Carole Woolhouse, Group Compliance Manager & Data Protection Officer

 

 

Abbie Roberts, our Business Administrator

“I’m roughly five months into my apprentice in Business Admin. I left school straight after my GCSE’s and went into an apprenticeship in Estate Agency but it didn’t work out, so I joined Shredall. My course mainly consists of coursework and some exams and I am also doing my ICT Level 1 which I have passed and am working towards my level 2 currently. I never wanted to do A levels or go to university and always wanted to do an apprenticeship. I did pass all of my GCSE’s and I did well but I just didn’t enjoy the class room learning style and school in general.

I think apprenticeships gives a lot of freedom to do work at your own pace. I also think that apprenticeships are looked down upon and there’s a slight stereotype that an apprenticeship is for people who aren’t academically clever. I was told through school that I need to go to University and that an apprenticeship would get me nowhere. I think people just don’t really know that much about them or how they work so they just presume it’s a way out of education. I even know people whose parents wouldn’t let them do an apprenticeship because they were too clever for it.

The main reasons I did it was to get out of the school education system as I prefer to learn by doing things and learning on the job. Also, I’m getting paid and learning at the same time. I was the only person from my friendship group to do an apprenticeship and they’re all still at school doing A levels. I think it snaps you out of the school mentality very quickly and you grow up faster than those still at school. At school your protected by teachers and constantly told what to do and when whereas in an apprenticeship it’s more like the real world and its down to you. I do think they should be promoted more to stop the stereotypes that people have.“

“Abbie is a breath of fresh air to our department, it’s important to have youthful talent in any business to provide fresh perspectives and new ideas. Abbie is helping us improve the range of skills we have within our team and personally develop young aspiring talent.” Ben Shipley, Group Sales Manager

“Our Apprentices at Shredall SDS Group are 100% making a positive impact. Thank you to all our Apprentices for working so hard and playing a vital part in the growth and success of Shredall SDS Group.” Nik Williams, Group Managing Director.

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