Warwickshire County Council on coveted list of Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers

Warwickshire County Council has been named among the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers in the country.

The Top 100 list, announced in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, celebrates the best apprenticeship employers across the UK and the county council was among ten selected from the West Midlands.

The council's longstanding commitment to apprenticeships is now stronger than ever, in terms of both recruiting apprentices within the council itself and helping other businesses around the county to recruit them.

Since September 2012, Warwickshire County Council has recruited 142 apprentices. Of those that have now completed their apprenticeships, 70% have been retained within the council and a further 23% have gone into employment elsewhere or gone on to study further at university. Currently there are 62 young people on apprenticeships within the county council.

Meanwhile, since September 2013, the council's Apprenticeship Hub has engaged with 382 businesses regarding apprenticeships, leading to the recruitment of 245 apprentices by Warwickshire businesses with Hub support.

Warwickshire is one of only three local authorities, along with Southwark Council and Plymouth City Council, to win a place in the coveted Top 100 alongside businesses including Unilever, JP Morgan, Mercedes Benz and Siemens.

Dan Nash, Warwickshire County Council's Apprentice Hub manager said: "The WCC apprenticeship scheme has been a great success for the council and brought a wealth of fresh new talent into the authority.

"It has enabled us to provide well over a hundred young apprentices with the skills and experience to begin their careers with us, while filling skills gaps in the organisation. The apprentices provide invaluable support to the teams and service areas of which they are part and which support the county's communities.

"It's brilliant that we can offer such a diverse range of apprenticeship opportunities across our service areas, from accountancy to forestry, highway engineering  to social care and customer service to vehicle maintenance.

"We offer a range of levels of apprenticeships, starting at Level 2 entry points for GCSE leavers and going right up to HNC equivalent qualifications in areas such as HR Management and Project Management.

"We are extremely proud to be recognised as one of the top 100, as we have always sought to ensure that each apprentice is given all the support they need to succeed in their role and then continue their career with us or elsewhere.

"However the scheme would not be recognised without the efforts and energy of the apprentices themselves. They are the stars and the benefits they have brought to Warwickshire County Council have been amazing." 

Warwickshire County Council leader and portfolio holder for economic growth, Cllr Izzi Seccombe said: "At the council we want to give young people in the county the best possible career pathways. We have long been passionate about apprenticeships and to be named in the top 100 employers is wonderful recognition of the great work done by our Apprenticeship Hub - and the apprentices themselves, of course."

Cllr Philip Johnson, chairman of the council's communities overview & scrutiny committee, added: "To be recognised in the top 100 apprenticeship employers nationally underlines the county's council's ongoing commitment to apprenticeships which are a great bridge between the worlds of education and employment."

* For more information on apprenticeships in Warwickshire please visit  www.warwickshire.gov.uk/apprenticeships