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Learning and experience maximises the potential of our people and benefits the business by creating a more engaged workforce.
Monday, February 10, 2025With National Apprenticeship Week upon us it is time to reflect and celebrate the hard work that goes into this programme and the success we have had at James Walker sites across the UK. Since Apprenticeships in England underwent huge reforms back in 2017, the business has had 122 apprentices across the country, studying 136 apprenticeships!
* 56 of these apprenticeships have been studied by new starters, hired into an apprentice role
* 80 have been studied by existing employees using an apprenticeship to professionally upskill
We have seen colleagues all around England utilising apprenticeships to upskill - with people studying a wide variety of subjects!
James Walker currently has 69 people studying a range of apprenticeships in the UK from Level 2 (equivalent to GCSE's) up to Level 7 (equivalent to a Masters Degree)
New qualifications being studied by employees this year include;
Alongside this, James Walker is involved in some exciting apprenticeship related projects, including;
- an ongoing project to develop a Higher Level Hardware Product Manager Apprenticeship standard. A team of representatives from James Walker is working with the Department for Education to create this apprenticeship standard from scratch – hoping to make announcements during National Apprenticeship Week about the next steps for this exciting project!
- For the last 2 years, the James Walker site in Cockermouth, Cumbria has been working as part of a local project group to develop and roll out ‘Lean Manufacturing Apprenticeship’ pathways. This combined effort between local employers, training providers, the University of Cumbria and the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership (CLEP) is aiming to provide an all-encompassing sector specific apprenticeship pathway from Level 2 right up to Level 6 in Lean Manufacturing. The end goal is being able to train both new recruits and existing employees with all-encompassing manufacturing knowledge and transferrable skills in areas including health and safety, lean, quality and employability skills and understanding. This project has been a real collaborative effort, with cohort 1 of the Level 2 Lean Manufacturing Operative and Level 3 Team Leading cohorts now well underway!
Hannah Petrie, senior learning and development advisor, sums up the company’s approach to apprenticeships; ‘James Walker is committed to expanding its skilled workforce and in the UK, one of the ways in which we do this is through a strong and progressive apprenticeship scheme across all areas of the business.
We are all about investing for the future, providing our people with practical, hands-on training in a working environment, whilst supporting them in their pursuit of formal recognised qualifications. It is particularly important for us to continue driving the benefits of apprenticeships across the business through recruiting new colleagues in apprenticeship roles and upskilling our current workforce who wish to develop both personally and professionally.'
