Sheffield Forgemasters adds 17 appprentices
13 Sep 2011
Sheffield, UK – Sheffield Forgemasters has taken on a new batch of apprentices to add to its specialist engineering workforce. The company will train 68 apprentices over the coming year - most in their second and third years, but 17 of which are new school and college graduates studying for specialist careers and roles in all departments across its 64-acre Brightside Lane site.
This year more than 200 people applied for 17 vacancies. Due to high levels of demand and skills, the successful applicants were chosen through an assessment centre and a familiarisation visit as part of the interview process.
Forgemasters won the Large Employer of the Year award at the National Apprenticeship Awards 2011 and for the first time ever featured in the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list in England.
The company invests more than £1 million a year in its apprenticeships training programme plus public sector grants with a range of qualifications being achieved from NVQs, BTEC, City & Guilds to undergraduate/post graduate level including Phds, lifelong learning plus work-based key-skills learning programmes. In 2010, 22 apprentices started foundation degrees to achieve technician status.
Kevin Newton is academy manager at Metskill, the strategic skills body for the metals industry - which selects and provides training options for Forgemasters’ apprentices.
He said: “”All apprentices taken on at Forgemasters have full employment from day one and are supported in every way to push themselves and be successful. The company has a very positive attitude to investing in these students and we have no shortage of people wanting to join their training scheme.”
In addition to learning new skills through specific training modules, Forgemasters’ apprentices will learn from individually appointed mentors at the plant, many of whom have more than 30 years of industry experience and knowledge to pass on.
