by Marcus Dubois
The chairman of an award-winning caravan dealer has spoken out on the subject of apprenticeships, urging British employers to offer more placements to mould their staff of the future.
Tony Bywater is the chairman of Salop Leisure in Shrewsbury, a firm which currently holds eight apprentices on their books. The company advocates placing young apprentices with experienced members of staff who can share their knowledge and skills. Mr Bywater is a Shropshire Council business ambassador and he revealed his support for talented youth.
“We have always believed in training and developing young people who get to know the business from an early age, take pride in it and turn out to be valuable assets to the company” he said today.
“A moral duty to shape the lives of young people”
Over the last decade university placements and school grades have become the stuff of newspaper columns and soundbites as politicians continue the drive for higher education. As a result vocational paths such as apprenticeships were wrongly considered “second best” to academic qualifications.
Yet vocational training often leads to university-level outcomes, providing employers with educated and commercially minded staff. Tony Bywater agrees with this outlook, and cited the accumulation of debt as a reason for young people to consider apprenticeships.
“They provide a tremendous opportunity for young people to earn and learn at the same time, as opposed to going to university and building up debts that will take years to clear.”
He also emphasised the opportunities to continue learning “by attending a college course one day a week whilst being employed in the workplace for the rest of the time. By working alongside adults, they gain valuable knowledge, skills and life experience.”
A spark within
As chairman of Salop Leisure, Tony Bywater believes he has a “moral duty to play a part in shaping the lives of young people – for the benefit of the country as a whole”. He warned “unless the country does something about getting young people into work, we are going to have massive problems within the next decade.”
And his solution? “Young people are hugely talented…but you sometimes have to create a little spark within them that you can develop into a fire. Every young person has a skill that is waiting to be discovered.”
Stephen Higgins is Salop Leisure’s financial director and he concurs with this theory. “The person that washes the caravan is equally as important to this company as the person that sells the caravan. They are small cogs in a big wheel. Each cog needs to work for the wheel to run smoothly.”
A trade for life
Apprentice Natalie Watkins, 21, is an assistant purchase ledger clerk in Salop Leisure’s accounts department. Having left sixth form college with three ‘A’ levels, she worked at a local restaurant before spotting “an opportunity to work my way up and get a career behind me.” Natalie is also completing a NVQ Level 2 in business administration, and believes “an apprenticeship gives you the opportunity to be paid whilst learning and gaining experience in the workplace.”
Fellow colleague Jack Clarke is a 16-year-old trainee caravan valeter who joined the company last summer. He believes “working for Salop Leisure gives you job security because we are always busy here.”
“I think an apprenticeship is good because it gives you a trade, which will be very useful in the future and also provides an opportunity to work alongside experienced adults.”
