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| Atkins back apprenticeship campaign The talent and achievements of Atkins' apprentices are being celebrated as part of a week-long National Apprenticeship Week campaign aimed at encouraging more young people to consider an apprenticeship to launch their career. National Apprenticeship Week, which is being held in the UK from 7 – 11 February, promotes the benefits of enabling young people to work alongside experienced colleagues on site to gain experience and at the same time complete a National Vocational Qualification. Atkins' chairman Allan Cook, who is speaking at the national launch of Apprenticeship Week 2011 at the BT Centre in London on Monday 7 February, started his career as an apprentice himself. He said: "There are many routes to a successful and rewarding career and an apprenticeship is one of them. They provide the individual, and the organisation that employs them, the skills they will need for their future. At Atkins, having the right people in the right job is essential if we want to continue to compete in a challenging international market." Atkins employs over 20 apprentices in the business and plans a further intake in 2011. Scott Cleal, who joined the Highways Maintenance Apprenticeship Scheme in May last year, said: "This scheme gives me qualifications as well as a financial reward and job security. For the past nine months I have been out on site everyday apart from when we are in the classroom training. I don't just think of myself as an apprentice but as part of a team, getting more and more qualified every day." As part of the National Apprenticeship Week initiatives, Atkins is giving a number of its apprentices the chance to shadow senior managers, as a way of increasing their understanding about the company. Apprentice Martin Holmes spent a day meeting clients, meeting the Cambridgeshire Highways team and catching up on paper work with a contract director. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Exhibition News :: home page |