National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) takes place between 5 and 11 February 2024 and is an opportunity for the education and skills sectors to celebrate the achievements of apprentices around the country and the positive impact they make on communities, businesses, and the wider economy. We caught up with Kayla Cartwright and Oscar Bowen, two of six apprentices we currently have in the business to explore the positive impact apprentices have on our business and find out about the benefits of apprenticeships.
Kayla works in the Infrastructure Services Division and has recently passed her Level 3 Business Administration Apprenticeship. The Business Administration Apprenticeship enabled Kayla to learn essential knowledge, skills, and behaviours for effective business operations, as well as apply the learning to her role as she worked through the modules. Throughout her apprenticeship, Kayla worked with various team members to gain valuable experience that would aid her learning.
Kayla said: “My experience has been truly amazing – the support I have received from both the apprenticeship supplier and Fisher German has been outstanding. The knowledge and confidence I have gained throughout my apprenticeship have helped me to grow into my role and have encouraged me to seek further training to continue my journey in the business. Before my apprenticeship, I lacked confidence in my knowledge and now I find myself helping other colleagues.”
CT Skills provided Kayla with all the support and resources she needed to complete her apprenticeship with a Pass, having also received a Distinction on her final knowledge test.
Senior Contract Coordinator, Rebecca Taylor, who was Kayla’s Line Manager during her apprenticeship, spoke about her willingness to learn and develop. She said: “When Kayla joined our team, I was immediately taken by her positive energy and her enthusiasm to learn. She welcomed the opportunity to enrol on an apprenticeship alongside her Junior Administrator role. It has been a pleasure to support her over the past 18 months. Kayla has worked hard to balance on-the-job training with self-study and has grown to become a confident, independent, well-liked member of our busy team.”
We currently have apprentices completing the Level 6 Chartered Surveyor Apprentice Programme who, upon successful completion of this course, will achieve a BSc (Hons) Rural Enterprise and Land Management degree and then progress to the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) for full Chartered Membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) as part of the End Point Assessment.
Oscar Bowen joined us in the summer of 2023 on the apprenticeship scheme studies at Harper Adams University whilst also working within the Infrastructure Services Division. Oscar explained that apprenticeships interested him for several reasons. He said: “I chose to do an apprenticeship because I wanted to gain valuable experience whilst studying for my degree and I couldn’t be more pleased with the variety and depth of knowledge I have gained so far. I am gaining real-life experience helping clients gain essential access to land alongside my studies. I would strongly recommend the apprenticeship route.”
Clare Phillipson, our Divisional Managing Partner for Infrastructure Services, said: “Infrastructure Services have been keen to support those who are undertaking their learning journey whilst in work, we have seen success across several offices where the support provided by colleagues has been invaluable to the individual. It gives us all a great deal of pleasure to see these colleagues flourish and complete their apprenticeships and we will continue to support this pathway.”
She added: “Apprenticeships add value to a business for various reasons, including tailored training and an increase in productivity. They help to bring fresh ideas, offer a new perspective, and offer the best pathway for colleagues. We believe having diversity in our training and colleague development is important in allowing us to be a well-rounded and resilient business.”
If you are interested in hearing more about Level 3 Business Administration Apprenticeships, or a Level 6 Chartered Surveyor Apprenticeships, please contact a member of our early careers team.
