Darke & Taylor welcomes new apprentice intake

Darke & Taylor
Jul 28, 2017 · 2 min read

Darke & Taylor is welcoming fourteen new apprentices to the company in July. Each will complete a four-year scheme, with the opportunity to secure a position with the firm afterwards.

Over the past few months, the Darke & Taylor team has been meeting potential apprentices at careers fairs at schools and through work experience placements, as well as advertising through JTL, one of the top three work-based learning providers in England and Wales. One recent event was an ‘Introduction to Construction’ day at Icknield Community College. Associate Director Keiron Richmond met with Year 8–10 students and led a session on becoming an electrician, along with a hands-on workshop on wiring. The feedback was outstanding and included “Today has been really interesting and fun — it confirms that I definitely want to be an electrician and get an Apprenticeship!” from Harvey in Year 10, and “I was really nervous about some of the practical activities as there were only a couple of us girls, but I was really proud that I managed to post the 3rd fastest time in the ‘Trunking Race’ — it’s given me lots of confidence” from Caitlin in Year 8.

Over eighty young people applied for the Apprenticeship Initiative, with the majority of the new recruits, including two female apprentices, coming from Oxfordshire, and two joining from London. With twelve of the apprentices focusing on Electrical Engineering, one on Data and one on Fire & Security, the company is ensuring that it has the ‘home-grown’ skills it needs to thrive going forward.

Darke & Taylor’s Apprenticeship Initiative has been running for over forty years, helping to tackle the issue of youth unemployment and meet its pledge as part of the 5% Club, to have 5% of its workforce made up of young people who are on a structured training scheme over the next five years. In fact, over 20% of its workforce is currently engaged in its Apprenticeship Initiative, which is way ahead of the national average for the electrical engineering industry and the economy in general.

Simon Newton, Commercial Director at Darke & Taylor and Chairman of the Thames Valley Apprenticeship Ambassador Network, said: “Two of our current Board Directors, two Associate Directors, eight senior managers and the majority of our senior engineers completed their apprenticeships at Darke & Taylor. Our initiative helps us to build our pool of talented youngsters and allows our experienced colleagues to pass on their valuable knowledge, which is complemented and reinforced by time spent at college.”

For more information on Darke & Taylor’s approach to its workforce, please visit http://darkeandtaylor.co.uk/people/workforce/

Darke & Taylor

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Providers of #electrical and M&E services covering all aspects of building services from design to #construction and maintenance.

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