Apprenticeships - the key to fighting skills gaps

Neil Smith, managing director of Metskill, says he has seen first-hand the benefits that apprenticeships can bring.

Metskill provides a comprehensive training management service for small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) in England, a core part of its business being the Academy which offers a fully managed apprenticeship service.

Over the past five years, 300 additional young people have entered industry as apprentices, as a result of the business solutions offered by Metskill. From this intake, companies are beginning to report real business benefits, from reduced recruitment costs to increased employee commitment and motivation.

The Sheffield experience

One of the companies Metskill has worked with is Sheffield Forgemasters. A manufacturer of large-scale bespoke steel components for diverse industries, Forgemasters already reaps the benefits of apprentice training and has changed from being a loss making company into a world beater in less than 10 years. Of its 795 employees, 70 are apprentices. Apprentice training thus forms a key part of the company's succession planning strategy to ensure it has the skills needed for the future.

However, despite these successes, some businesses are reluctant to support apprenticeship programmes, choosing instead to take a short-term view to filling skills gaps. Temporary or semi-skilled labour from overseas is often used as a common stop-gap approach for many businesses.

In response to this, Metskill, which is part of the Semta Group, is committed to helping SMEs take on and develop apprenticeships. With a lack of skilled workers costing the economy £700 million (€770 million) every year in lost productivity, a new £65 million (€72 million) partnership between Semta and the UK government has been created to help deliver urgently needed skills training for employees. Through Semta, companies based in England can now access financial support for apprenticeships for people of all ages to help fill skills gaps.

In addition, the Metals Academy has been created, which provides a complete service to recruit and train young people for employers in South Yorkshire and the West Midlands. Activities include partnerships with key schools to offer support in curriculum delivery, work experience placements, training and management support and access to Apprentice Ambassadors who talk, first-hand, about their careers.

Employer advantages

From an employer's perspective, this includes advice on the best apprenticeship route to meet business needs and ensuring training is delivered by the best local provision. On an individual level, the monthly open days for new recruits and 'Apprentice of the Year' competition are a part of a number of social activities used to encourage apprentices and enhance their learning experience.

''We don't poach people from other companies - we grow our own," said Sheffield Forgemasters chief executive, Dr Graham Honeyman. "Each of the operations directors on the site is involved in planning apprentice intake for the future to replace skills lost through retirement and other reasons. Our belief is that if you motivate young people and give them a chance, they will shine. Apprenticeships help them to do this."

For more information about apprenticeship support from Metskill and how to access funding available through Semta, visit www.metskill.co.uk or www.semta.org.uk or Tel: 0114 244 6833.