Unlocking the true potential of talent in Gloucestershire

Yesterday we attended a breakfast meeting organised by Gloucester College to present the range of apprenticeships available to individuals and businesses in Gloucestershire.

The event, held at Llanthony Secunda Priory in Gloucester, included presentations by Daniel Boon from Gloucestershire County Council, Louise Herbert from Barnwood Construction and Andy Bates from Gloucestershire College.

Daniel Boon spoke about the Apprenticeship Levy introduced by the Government in 2017. He stressed the importance for employers of ensuring that they use the full quota for apprenticeships, as it cannot be carried over to next year. He also explained that they have introduced new apprenticeships in Business Administration as well as a brand-new apprenticeship scheme for the Gloucestershire Fire Service.

Louise Herbert exposed Barnwood Construction’s long experience with the apprenticeship scheme, as they had been offering apprenticeships for over 52 years. In her view, Gloucestershire College provides a great help in drawing up adverts for the National Apprenticeship website. She expressed her satisfaction with the whole apprenticeship process, which has been a great success thanks to Gloucestershire College’s support.
Gloucestershire College employs 800 people and additional training is embedded within the training and development plan for its employees.

Andy Bates from the college explained how they ensure that every apprentice has a training coordinator and that the courses are independently assessed. This serves to check the learning independently from the college and also ensures that the industry standards are adhered to; for example, their Cyber/IT courses are approved by the British Computer Society (BCS).