EMPLOYERS who were honoured for the way they have supported apprentices said seeing their success is reward enough for their efforts.

Three companies took home trophies from Wiltshire College & University Centre’s annual Apprenticeship Awards, held at Trowbridge Civic Centre.

The college works with around 1,000 employers, supporting more than 2,000 apprentices in more than 70 subject areas.

Principal and CEO Iain Hatt told the awards audience that employers play a key role in the apprenticeships process. “Thank you for your support for the college and for the students throughout their apprenticeship training programmes,” he said. “I include ourselves in this category as we do practice what we preach and employ apprentices of our own in a wide range of roles across the college.

“I am always delighted to welcome new employers to the college as we work together to develop the right skills, behaviours and aspiration that are so important to allow our communities to grow.”

Munich Motorworks in Salisbury was only set up by Karen and Stuart Musselwhite during lockdown in 2020 after Karen was made redundant. One of their first acts was to take on Archie Smith, 20, on work experience.

They won the Small Apprentice Employer award for the way they supported him through his apprenticeship.

“The business has been a lot of work but now we are thriving,” she said. “We feel privileged to win the award, but also we are honoured to be given the opportunity to give young people the opportunity.

“Our youth are our future and if we don’t help them, what is our future? I remember Archie coming through the door and he just needed help, he needed someone to believe that he could do it so we found the apprenticeship for him.

“We told him, you’re going in the right direction, ‘do this’ and I’m hoping he’s going to stay with us and hopefully be part of the partnership.”

The Avenue Primary School and Children’s Centre in Warminster won the Medium Apprentice Employer of the Year award. Deputy Manager Hayley Fleming said: “Winning this is really good for us, we’ve done a lot of work with our apprenticeships over the years.

“Apprentices are brilliant because they are really good for the business and for them it’s easier to learn on the job than it is to be in college four or five days a week, they can actually come in and see what the work involves.”

She said she still gets pleasure from seeing apprentices gain experience and confidence. “I love it,” she said. “I’m especially pleased because one of our apprentices, Katie Clarke, was here as a child and I started looking after her when she was three.

“It’s great to see her growing up and developing and now she’s part of the team.”

Aster Group won the Large Apprentice Employer award, which Apprenticeship and Early Careers Lead Jessica Scull was a pleasant surprise. “It’s absolutely incredible to win this award, we weren’t expecting it at all,” she said.

She said having apprentices is a key part of the company’s employment strategy, which means its relationship with WCUC is vital. “Having apprentices allows us to support the future talent that we need,” she said. “We have a large workforce and it’s really important that we have that talent available, so when they do pass their apprenticeships we can try and take them on. It builds a positive talent line for us. “

She said it is rewarding to see young people completing apprenticeships and becoming fully fledged members of staff.

“You see them come in and they’re really nervous and quite shy, and then over the years they get the confidence and they see that they’re more than capable,” she said. “It’s a nice thing to experience.

“For us it is really important that we have them in the workplace while they are studying so we can train them in the way we want them to work so that by the end of the apprenticeship they have that confidence and the ability we’re looking for. We can just leave them to do their role properly without that additional support.”

WCUC has set itself a bold challenge of recruiting 100 apprentices in 100 days to mark National Apprenticeship Week. Learn more and make your own pledge to take on an apprentice here.