We were happy to hear last week that the Government have announced a new policy for companies bidding for contracts. From this month all bidders on government contracts over £10m will be required to show written commitment to an apprentice recruitment scheme.
This move, by David Cameron, is to support the pledge made by the Conservatives on the run up to the general election that they will create 3 million more apprenticeship places by the end of their term. Which is a 30% increase on today’s figures of 2.3 million.
This is great news to us as we have been waving the flag for Apprentices since 2010.
As a growing SME coming out of the recession years, the apprenticeship scheme allowed us to develop software and win large government contracts.
Our apprenticeship scheme has gone from strength to strength. We now brag that a third of our workforce has come through the scheme. Our apprentices have been at the forefront of the bidding stages, software development and project management since the beginning their careers with us.
Apprentices, Nqobile Dube – Technical Services Manager and Billy Clackers – Product Manager presented at a cross party parliamentary event hosted at the Houses of Commons. The topic was open source software and the benefits it can deliver to central government.
Ian Paisley Jnr MP was particularly impressed by the use of Apprentices and the confidence we had in them.
‘We’ve always treated our Apprentices like any other member of the team, sure they learn on the job but they still have to deliver’ Fintan Galvin, CEO Invotra.
We have found the ‘in at the deep end’ approach to training our Apprentices has paid off. Our Apprentices often finish at the top of their class, 100% course pass rate and our Apprenticeship retention rate is almost 90%.
The business benefits have been massive, so if you’re thinking about launching your apprenticeship scheme don’t hesitate. We haven’t looked back.
We are currently recruiting Apprentices, so if you’re interested please email jobs@invotra.com
