Apprentices at Birmingham firm swap workshop for countryside at event

To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of its Apprenticeship Academy, the firm hosted a special two-day event at The Edge Adventure Activities Centre in Shrewsbury, with 38 apprentices participating – its largest group to date.

The youngsters took part in a series of tasks designed to help improve their communication, teamwork, time management and problem-solving skills, as well as enhance their engineering know-how.

Alan Lusty, CEO, said: “Our apprentices are of vital importance to our business model and our strategic objectives. That’s why we invest in their development on a holistic level.

“Our annual Apprentice Awayday is one of the ways in which we enhance skills development, taking apprentices out of their normal working environment to help build their knowledge in positive, engaging ways.

“These individuals simply represent the future of engineering, and training and team-bonding initiatives such as these aim to help deliver the comprehensive learning experience they need to be successful.”

Working in teams, the apprentices were tasked with solving different challenges as part of a range of outdoor activities, as well as join activities designed to help newcomers learn more about the business and its culture.

One of the challenges involved devising plans for the construction of a bridge, with the teams being required to assign a project manager, put their ideas together and then present them to the other teams and mentors.

The end of the event saw awards being given out to the individuals and teams who excelled in a fun-filled award ceremony, celebrating their efforts and achievements.

“We were thrilled to see our apprentices take part in the event with such enthusiasm yet again,” continued Mr Lusty. “We’ve witnessed a genuine commitment and passion from everyone present and, as employers, we couldn’t ask for more.

“We’re proud to say that this year we’ve seen the largest intake of apprentices yet – the perfect way to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of our academy. This has been growing steadily over the past decade, leading up to achieving 10 per cent of our workforce in apprenticeship positions last year.

“As a business, we have consistently prioritised the development of opportunities that differ from traditional academic routes, helping create practical and valuable paths to engineering.

“We look forward to continuing along this path of growth to help even more young people embark on rewarding engineering careers.”