Written by Jonathan Bourne, Managing Director at Damar Training (June 2024)

Introduction to Apprenticeships

Now is a good time to be thinking about apprenticeships. Thousands of ambitious young people have just left school, college and university and, for many, their next step will be an apprenticeship. But of course, apprenticeships aren’t just for recruiting fresh talent, they are an important tool for existing staff as well.

We spoke to Damar Training Managing Director, Jonathan Bourne, about the ways that apprenticeships can bring benefits to employers, employees and customers.

“People are the key to business success. Apprenticeships have repeatedly been shown to have a positive impact on employees – including staff morale, retention and progression. And of course, to provide the best possible services and products for your customers, you need the right people, with the right skills and values.”

Further Benefits of Apprenticeships

We asked some of our partner-employers about how apprenticeships impact the people within their organisation:

• Toni Carter, Apprenticeship and Raising Participation Co-Ordinator at Good Employer Charter Member organisation, Rochdale Borough Council, said: “We believe apprentices are the future of our workforce so we commit to recruiting, inducting, supporting and celebrating all the apprentices that join us. They bring enthusiasm, passion, new ideas and talent into our organisation.”
• Tracey Wilson, Operations Director at Blue Cube Corporate Travel Management, said: “Offering apprenticeships demonstrates our commitment to career development and employee growth.  Apprenticeships contribute to a dynamic and inclusive workplace culture. The integration of enthusiastic, motivated apprentices energizes the team, promoting a collaborative and supportive environment that benefits all employees.”
• Lynette Smith, Senior Learning & Development Business Partner at Brabners, said: “Apprenticeships provide a culture of learning and development for our ambitious colleagues and promotes progression in our organisation. It allows us to retain talent and supports one of our values – making the difference for our colleagues.”

Jonathan continued, “Other benefits of apprenticeships include better productivity, greater diversity and strong social value impact. Customers like and want to do business with organisations that invest in their local community and their people. For years we’ve been running apprenticeship programmes in accounting, business administration, customer service, data protection, management and law. The impact is significant for our partners, like DWF, Clarity Business Travel, Manchester Airport Group and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust. We pride ourselves on taking a strategic and collaborative approach. Apprenticeships are definitely not ‘one size fits all’. It usually starts with a conversation about your organisation’s challenges and opportunities and where apprenticeships for existing and new staff may help. This helps us understand the bigger picture and where apprenticeship programmes can add the most value.”

If you’re thinking about recruitment, our dedicated recruitment team can also advertise your vacancy, market it to their existing pool of applicants, shortlist candidates and help you to arrange interviews.

Recruitment Co-ordinator, Sabina, said: "We have many years’ experience in apprenticeship recruitment and we pride ourselves on delivering an outstanding recruitment service for our partner-employers. It’s wider than simply recruitment though – we also provide guidance on salary and how to make your role as attractive as possible. We can advertise roles, screen candidates for any necessary criteria, provide a shortlist and arrange interviews. The added value service we provide also includes ways to improve the vacancy description to make it more attractive to applicants, as well as supporting candidates through the interview process to make sure that they present the best version of themselves at the interview."

For more tips on apprenticeship recruitment, click here.