Plymouth City Council named Employer of the Year for its apprenticeship programme

Doubling the number of apprenticeship opportunities along with encouraging other businesses and community groups to follow suit has lead Plymouth City Council to be named Employer of the Year at the Apprenticeships national awards 2013.

Beating off tough competition from internationally recognised Augusta Westland and QuEST Engineering, the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) awarded Plymouth City Council the Large Employer of the Year 2013 (South West).

The Council was recognised for their growing commitment to providing opportunities through apprenticeships. In the last year the Council has doubled their number of apprenticeship opportunities with their total now standing at 89.

Working closely with service providers in the city they have also been able to increase the qualifications available which now includes Cleaning and Environmental Services, Youth and Community, Marketing and ICT.

Promoting apprenticeships across the city was also commended as Plymouth has launching and delivering the 1,000 club initiative, the aim being to encourage 1,000 businesses in the city to provide opportunities including jobs, work experience and apprenticeships. To date over 1,500 opportunities have been delivered.

Demonstrating how apprentices have delivered community projects also stood them in good stead for winning the award.

Ken Holder, Apprenticeships Co-ordinator at Plymouth City Council said: “This is excellent news for us and I’m so proud to be able to bring this award back to Plymouth. I have been working with the apprentices in what feels like an epic journey and I have seen them work so hard and grow in their professions.

“The apprentices themselves deserve thanks and recognition too – without them working so hard apprentices as a route into work would not be as popular as it is today.”

Bob Harrison from the National Apprenticeships Service in Plymouth added: “On behalf of the NAS I would like to congratulate Plymouth City Council for deservedly winning this award.

“Since 2010 they have really shown their commitment and have led other Council’s and businesses by their example. This has been fully recognised in them being awarded the Large South West Employer of the Year 2013.

“Other councils have since adopted Plymouth’s apprenticeship programme and have seen that apprenticeships can bring new skills in to their business, as well as placing them in a strong position to meet their future needs.”

Gaining this award will automatically see Plymouth City Council being listed in the top 100 apprenticeship employers in the UK which will be announced later this month.

They will also be invited to submit a bid for the national awards, along with all winners from the regional heats, which will be held at the Birmingham NEC on 14 November.

Plymouth will continue to expand their apprenticeship programme over the coming months and will recruit an additional 10 Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship positions in Project Management.

Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Pete Smith added: “As a Council we have been committed to providing more opportunities through apprenticeships. In the last year we have doubled this number and since 2010 we have been able to offer 89 places – 60 of these have been to young people under the age of 24.

“More and more businesses in the city are using apprenticeships to help narrow skills gaps they may have and meet their changing business needs. Long term commitment from the Council and the city will see this increasing and will be a contributor in helping tackle unemployment levels.”

For information about apprenticeship opportunities at Plymouth City Council visit www.plymouth.gov.uk/counciljobs . Alternatively you can visit the NAS website at www.apprenticships.org.uk.