On a beautiful sunny Thursday morning over 140 of the Norfolk business community joined us for a breakfast all about getting the most out of apprenticeships and the benefits they have to businesses, young people and the community.
Delegates started off with some networking and an exhibition full of training providers and knowledgeable businesses to provide them with the advice they need to get apprentices into their business.
It was then onto the speakers, Richard Nutt from National Apprenticeship Services started us off with a very informative speech on all the different aspects available around apprenticeships and the funding available. He also gave the delegates some tangible benefits relating to the recruitment of an apprentice, a copy of his slides can be found on our website. This was then followed by a short Q&A before a refreshment break where delegates took advantage of the networking time.
We then had an interview panel with Bernard Matthews and Reepham High School & College to talk about their successful joint working and how they have bridged the gap between the classroom and commerce, and how other businesses can plan to do the same. This led to a lively discussion on the causes behind the lack of take up from apprenticeships. Delegates were in agreement in the end that more education was needed for all including the general public on how important apprenticeships can be and the benefits of them as an alternative route to university.
We finished with another interview panel of businesses and apprentices who are actively involved and how apprentices have increased their knowledge, and employers benefited from practical engagement. This first-hand experience was widely accepted by the entire room. It was valid input from those who really are bridging the gap. This interview panel sparked yet another lively discussion on the calibre of young people that are choosing the apprenticeship root. The idea of ‘cheap labour’ was also discussed and the need replace this with the idea of training young people into the kind of employees your business really needs and could benefit from.
The event was a massive success with businesses getting a lot out of it including the relevant connections they need to take that next step in the apprenticeship path. Twitter was a hive of activity along with business sharing their ideas and tips.
To see photos of the event see our Facebook of Google+ pages.
