This time last year the company offered up four apprenticeship places, double the amount of the regular annual intake. Applications were many and the contest for the four places was intense. Making it through the recruitment process was Lewis Still 21, Xavier Straight-Garten 21, Isaac Topley 19, and school leaver Craig Redfern 16.
During their first year of training, the apprentices were rotated around the business to gain experience across all departments. Towards the end of the programme, they were able to apply to work in a department of their choice, if there were places available. This month saw them start their chosen roles.
Steve Ayre, MD said “I am delighted with the group. They all have a great attitude and a real desire to progress their learning. Here at Rutland Plastics, our culture is about providing an exceptional service with technical excellence at the heart of what we do. By bringing in staff at apprentice level we can instil this culture early. A significant number of our employees started as apprentices”.
Craig Redfern, at 16 the youngest apprentice, begins his new role as Trainee Tool Technician. Speaking of the company’s apprenticeship scheme he said “It has opened up a whole new world, very different from school. I have gained confidence and besides the technical skills I have learnt, the most valuable have been people skills particularly in communication”.
Lewis Still, is pleased with landing a place in our Quality Assurance department. On leaving school he did some shop work and worked briefly as a machine operator. Now with the chance to learn a profession, he intends to become a highly qualified member of the team.
Joining the Production Technicians are apprentices Xavier Straight-Garten and Isaac Topley. Both knew they wanted an alternative to university, Xavier and Isaac agreed “ …finding a career path early, learning new skills and being paid could not be better”.
