Building Workforces of the Future

Local businesses looking to take on apprentices and build workforces of the future can take advantage of the wealth of expertise offered by the University of Sheffield’s AMRC Training Centre which provides the practical and academic skills needed to help engineering and manufacturing companies compete globally.

The AMRC Training Centre at Rotherham offers a block and day release system for a range of programmes all eligible for levy funding and accessible to businesses in Sheffield City Region and Nottinghamshire wanting to upskill existing staff or bring in fresh talent, with Level 3 manufacturing programmes for school leavers through to degrees and postgraduate programmes.

Louise Cowling, Head of Degree Apprenticeships at the training centre, said: “Our programmes have been developed with employers to make sure the content is relevant, is informed by the research taking place at AMRC to ensure apprentices are exposed to new technologies, and has the academic rigour expected of a Russell Group University.

“Many of our students have taken business improvement ideas and techniques back to their workplace. They have discussed new processes or systems with their managers, planned the implementation and generated tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds of savings per year for their organisations. Other apprentices have changed measuring systems to improve accuracy and made small but significant changes to production methods to improve the number of pieces produced per shift.”

One of the benefits of developing a workforce through an apprenticeship is the high retention rate and fresh thinking they can bring to the business. Louise added: “Apprentices apply their knowledge to their workplace, become thoroughly embedded within the business, developing skills, knowledge and relationships as they progress.”

Howard Simms is founder of Apadmi, an SME taking part in the Degree Apprenticeship in Digital. He said: “From a small employer’s viewpoint they provide access to bright, keen talent at an earlier age. From a student’s viewpoint they gain a degree, learn skills directly relevant to employment, and avoid significant debt, as they will be earning a wage. It’s a win-win scenario.”

Click here for more information or contact 0114 222 9958.