by Andrew Clarke

Published at 11:07, Thursday, 05 April 2012

A WHITEHAVEN firm has been able to take on three new apprentices – thanks to a new three-way partnership.

Taking up the challenge: New apprentices at Tony Roberts Carpets (from left) Daniel McCann, Jonathan Hewer and Reece Lancaster, with (from left, back) Mike Blakeley, director The Flooring Guilds Apprenticeships; Marie Coyle, training co-ordinator at the Flooring Guild Apprenticeships; and Glenn Miller, from Mitie Technical Facilities Management

The trio – Daniel McCann, Jonathan Hewer and Reece Lancaster – have started floor-laying apprenticeships at Tony Roberts Carpets, based at Haig Enterprise Park, at Kells.

Their new roles have been made possible by a newly-formed relationship between Tony Roberts Carpets, Mitie and The Flooring Guild.

The trio – all local and aged between 16 and 18 – started with Tony Roberts on Monday and will be trained through a new apprenticeship scheme being offered by The Flooring Guild.

Through the scheme, they will be among the few apprentices nationally to achieve both work- and theory-based qualifications in carpet-fitting – all while receiving a wage.

Tony Roberts Carpets – which carries out fitting work for Mitie on site at Sellafield – was selected to receive the apprenticeship places after it was assessed by inspectors from The Flooring Guild.

“It’s an investment for us but one we are delighted to make,” said Mr Roberts. “The apprenticeships are an extension of their education and they will acquire all the skills they need on the job, rather than in a classroom.

“They will learn all aspects of the business; not just laying carpets but providing estimates, customer service and everything the job entails.

“They need particular skills and attitudes and getting them in the workplace is the best way to learn.

“We have the floor-laying skills required at Sellafield and we now need to grow our workforce to seize the opportunities being presented by Mitie.”

The apprentices will be visited by assessors from The Flooring Guild in their own workplace, and they will travel other factories and to the firm’s base in Devon to complete their technical certificates.

The whole process is expected to be completed within 17 months.

Only 53 of these apprenticeships have been awarded nationwide. To mark the launch of the programme, Marie Coyde and Mike Blakeley, from The Flooring Guild, and Glenn Miller, from Mitie, visited Tony Roberts’ showroom last week to meet the new apprentices.

The positive news comes after it was revealed that unemployment rates among young people in Copeland are among the worst in the country.

In February, 650 young people aged between 16 and 24 claimed jobseekers’ allowance in Copeland, and the youth unemployment rate for February averaged 8.9 per cent, compared to the national average of 6.8.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk