Slack & Parr, based near Derby, is a medium sized engineering company with nearly 200 staff. The Company has been training apprentices for 90 years since its foundation in 1917. Nearly half (48 per cent) of the Company’s workforce have been apprentice trained, and one in seven (16 per cent) now hold senior positions. Apprentices currently make up 14 per cent of the workforce.
Richard Hallsworth, Managing Director at Slack & Parr says their Apprenticeship programme is now, more than ever, ‘the life blood of the company.’ The Company excels in supporting, training and retaining apprentices to ensure it remains at the cutting edge of education and technology, and competitive in the global landscape.
They invest a huge amount of time, energy and resource into developing future generations of engineers. During the last year, the Company has visited a number of schools, including specialist and all-girls schools, to talk about career opportunities within the Company, and address out dated perceptions of engineering.
Slack & Parr’s apprentices ‘hit the shop floor running,’ and become involved in all aspects of manufacture and design. The Company’s apprentices are fast tracked through the programme at different rates according to their abilities, and parents or carers of Slack & Parr’s younger apprentices are actively involved to ensure a smooth transition from classroom to the workplace.
Mary Rogers, Leicestershire LSC Area Director praises Slack & Parr’s commitment to the sector: “The extensive time, money and energy the company puts into the next generation of engineers through its school programme, together with its work with training providers, far outweighs the company’s own needs.”
Slack & Parr’s apprentices had a 100 per cent completion rate in 2006, and more than half (56 per cent) of their apprentices are currently on Higher Education courses, with a target of 60 per cent set for 2008.
Slack & Parr won Medium Employer of the Year at the 2006 national Apprenticeship Awards. This year, the Company has once again been selected as a finalist in the Medium Employer of the Year category in the Apprenticeship Awards 2007.
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