Carnaud MetalBox held their Apprentice of the year awards on the 14th September.
Well done to all the Apprentices for all of their hard work!

The Peter Moran Award For Basic Training Apprentice of the Year – Jack Christie.

The Graham Bold Award For Outstanding Apprenticeship Development and Value to the Business – Liam Oldcorn

The Peter Larvin Award For Outstanding Achievement and Performance – Tom Ridding

The William Jowitt Award for Apprentice of the Year 2016 – Daniel Tyne

Reece Taylor and Aaron Kinder of Bruntwood have now completed their Apprenticeships in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning with STEGTA! They are now installing an Air Conditioning unit into STEGTA’s IT room.
The lads have come a long way in their Apprenticeship and everyone at STEGTA would like to congratulate them with their success. Keep up the hard work!

East Lancashire Light Railway Co Ltd have had a busy year. January 2016 saw them host the return of the world famous Flying Scotsman locomotive!

STEGTA currently support 4 Apprentices within the company and Andy explains below how this is having an impact in the workplace.      

Why did the company originally decide to look at Apprenticeships as a staffing solution?

In our little bit of the railway industry, the technology and the engineering disciplines are very different from those employed in the mainstream.  The realisation is that, unless we develop individuals with the very specific skill sets that are applicable to sustaining what is essentially Victorian engineering, we will not be able to sustain our business for much longer.  The skills we need are those that ceased to be employed in the 1960s and those who had the knowledge and abilities are now of an age where it is becoming increasingly difficult to ‘brain dump’.  It’s important we act now and the training of the younger element and through formal apprenticeships has got to be the way forward.

How did STEGTA support your recruitment of Apprentices?

The setting up of an apprenticeship scheme is something that we could not have undertaken on our own.  There are obviously formal and academic aspects to any apprenticeship which we could not have supported so it was imperative that we partnered with a credible training provider and one that was prepared to adapt their processes to the needs of our business.  Unfortunately, training providers who offer the more traditional engineering skills training are now few and far between but we identified STEGTA as being an organisation that was prepared to listen to our problems and adjust to meet our needs.  The recruitment and selection process was made all the more easier for us as the leg-work was carried out by the team at STEGTA to the extent that we didn’t have to invest too much time in the preliminary stages of the process.  This was immensely beneficial to us.

What are the benefits of recruiting an Apprentice?

What has been very apparent is the keenness and the willingness to get stuck in and learn on the part of the 4 young lads we’ve taken on. Especially given the sort of conditions we require them to work in.  The work that they are undertaking is, in the main, very dirty and heavy work and I know we are sometimes in danger of stereotyping but this is not the sort of thing that you would think would appeal to youngsters today but they have taken to it like ducks to water.  They each took on board very early on that this wasn’t going to be like any conventional apprenticeship and that acceptance of the environment and the ability to grasp unfamiliar concepts was going to be critical to their progress.  I’ve been impressed with each of them and the progress they have been making.

What support have you/your learners received from the Training Officer?

The support from the Training Officer has been fundamental to the progress that the lads have been making.  There is regular dialogue and review of progress at a detailed and technical level and this has been important in identifying issues with the syllabus, with the facilities that are made available to the apprentices and also our own internal processes.  Without that interface and dedicated focus I don’t believe we’d have been able to make the sort of progress have thus far.

Will your Apprentices undertake any further training upon completion of the Apprenticeship?

There is evidence that the lads who are with us currently see a future for themselves in our bit of the railway industry.  That said, there is no reason why the skills that they have acquired wouldn’t make them a saleable entity in the wider industry.  I honestly believe that, once this stage in their development is done with, they will want to look at broadening their capabilities and knowledge by undertaking additional skills training.  They each seem to be moving in that direction.