The arrival of the M300 at STEGTA’s machine room! Thank you to James Russell, Adam Worsley, James Billington and the rest of the guys on hand to help. The new machine will be a great addition to our machine room and the learners when completing their PEO.
Thank you to Hotel Football for hosting the Trafford Careers Fair 2016 on 29th November 2016.
STEGTA met some really keen individuals at the event and look forward to working with them in the future.
STEGTA have worked with Carnaud MetalBox since 2012, this year STEGTA learners Mark Smith, James Thomason and Andy Joyce have gone on to win gold in the UK skills competition!
CarnaudMetalBox Engineering apprentices Mark Smith, James Thomason and Andy Joyce have WON GOLD at this year’s UK Skills competition in the Manufacturing Team Challenge at Birmingham NEC Arena. The CMB Apprenticeship scheme is a well-developed highly skilled apprenticeship programme for young aspiring engineers based at their Shipley Headquarters, many of whom go onto managerial roles within the business.
The competition comprised of 3 core skills (electrical, machining and fabrication / hand fitting) a surprise project, a main project and a 5min time trial. The team from CarnaudMetalbox Engineering won gold beating the second place team with a 15% margin on the overall score.
Andrew Truelove, CMB Engineering’s General Manager comments ‘I am delighted that our team of young engineers have achieved this accolade. Winning Gold underpins the direction of our apprenticeship scheme, but more importantly it highlights the talent in these young engineers forging a career path in the industry ’
‘What better motivator to a young apprentice than winning Gold in a UK wide Skills based competition, a truly magnificent achievement not only for Mark, James and Andy, but for CMB Engineering as a united force in today’s competitive markets.’ Comments Truelove.
The very best in the UK were named Skills Show 2016 champions on a triumphant night for the future of the economy. More than 500 talented young people took part in competitions covering 61 different skills over three days at Birmingham’s NEC in front of thousands of visitors.
Independent judges assessed the work of competitors, choosing the winners who were presented with their gold medals at a ceremony on Saturday evening (Nov 19). Dr Neil Bentley, CEO WorldSkills UK, said: “It has been an incredible, inspiring and hugely successful Skills Show culminating in a ceremony to honor the very best young talent Britain has to offer. I would like to congratulate all the gold medal winners – indeed everyone who made it into the national finals.
During a visit to the Skills Show Robert Halfon MP, Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills, hailed the three-day event (Nov17-19) as a crucial date in the UK calendar to help bridge a ‘complex’ skills shortage which had arisen over the last five years.
He said the tens of thousands of young people flocking to the NEC marked the future of the workplace in a fast-changing working environment. The Minister said of the Show: “It is incredible. This is one of the most important days in the skills calendar.
Thank you to Wellacre for inviting us to the Year 11 Parents Evening and Careers Event on the 24th November 2016.
The event connected us with some young, bright and enthusiastic potential engineers! If you would like any more information please contact STEGTA on 0161 877 4078 or email us at info@stegta.co.uk
On Thursday 3rd November Carnaud’s apprentice James Thomasson spent the day at Console Wizard with our host Mark Stapleton for the World Skills Event.
James spent the day with Mark learning advanced soldering techniques and electronic fault finding and repair. He did a great job and Mark was very impressed with his attitude and willingness to learn.
This is the second year Mark has helped us out by accepting a placement and really enjoyed it offering his services again if we ever need him.
Good Luck James!
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
STEGTA will be attending the Northern Manufacturing & Electronics Exhibition on Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th September to promote our services to new employers.
If you would like more information on bringing an apprentice on board please come and see us at stand G49.
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.
Announced in 2015, the Apprenticeship levy aims to fund 3 million Apprenticeships in the UK by 2020. It will affect all organisations in all sectors. The levy will only be paid on annual paybills in excess of £3 million, and so less than 2% of UK employers will pay it.
It will cost you as an employer, 0.5% of your PAYE bill although smaller companies can claim £15,000 training allowance to offset this cost.
The levy will take effect in April 2017 and will include the use of an electronic voucher system to enable you to purchase Apprenticeship training from a recognised provider (STEGTA).
STEGTA was set up in 1966 to support employers to enable them to cope with the previous levy system and is confident we can help you with this recent development.