Programme proves that apprenticeships can be for everyone
ERIKS UK & Ireland has welcomed its new cohort of apprentices for 2024, introducing new sales and service apprenticeships alongside its engineering ones.
Following the success of its inaugural year, ERIKS’ 2024 apprenticeship programme has grown 70% with the induction of 22 new apprentices. Of these, 18 are undertaking engineering apprenticeships, and four are taking on the newly introduced sales and service apprenticeships.
Lori Broadhurst, Talent Development Partner at ERIKS, explained: “We’ve seen tremendous success from our first-year apprentice engineers, with many already contributing to real-world projects. This new intake brings even more potential, and we’re excited to continue fostering the next generation.”
As with the first year’s cohort, the engineering apprentices will split their time between hands-on work at ERIKS service centres across the UK and formal training at SMB College in Leicester, where they will pursue Level 3 Engineering qualifications for the next four years, gaining an invaluable grounding from both practical and academic experiences.
For the first time, the 2024 programme has seen ERIKS offer apprenticeships in sales and service. Those on the sales and service apprenticeships will spend their time completing two courses simultaneously, which will result in both Customer Service Specialist Level 2 and Sales Executive Level 4 qualifications upon completion of the 3-year programme.
Demonstrating the versatility of apprenticeship schemes and in line with ERIKS’ commitment to nurturing new talent, regardless of demographic, the age range of the 2024 intake spans 17 to 34.
“We’ve had applicants straight out of school and some who have spent years in other career fields prior to application”, added Lori. “All applicants went through the exact same process, and the best were chosen. We have taken on a 34-year-old who wanted a career change, and one of our staff, who had been a temp but then became a permanent hire in a workshop, is expanding their career horizons and has become an engineering apprentice. Apprenticeships are for everyone, not just 18–21-year-olds.”
ERIKS is at the forefront of the changing perception around apprenticeships. As Lori explained: “Today’s prospective apprentices can choose between traditional educational routes which come in most cases with significant personal debt, or they can pursue an apprenticeship and potentially earn upwards of £80,000 over four years and get some real experience and build their network and connections. For a 30-year-old, such apprenticeship programmes were unavailable when they left school, but we have moved mountains since then. There’s so much more for these young adults now.”
