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Gloucestershire Business News

South West Apprenticeship Company commits to ‘earn and learn’

The South West Apprenticeship Company (SWAC) has demonstrated its commitment to developing its people by joining The 5% Club.

The 5% Club is an industry-led initiative focussed on driving momentum into the recruitment of apprentices, graduates and sponsored students.

Gloucester-based SWAC is one of the original apprenticeship training agencies and has been supporting and mentoring apprentices placed within host organisations for 14 years.

The 5% Club, started in 2013 by Leo Quinn, Group CEO of Balfour Beatty, is a movement of more than 700 employers providing 'earn and learn' opportunities to develop the skills and talents people need to become more employable and create meaningful careers.

Companies joining The 5% Club commit to raising the number of apprentices, sponsored students and graduates on formal programmes to 5% of their total workforce within five years.

Members are also asked to publicly report their progress in their annual report. Existing members range from SMEs to FTSEs and cover diverse industries, from engineering through to the legal sector.

As one of the region's larger employers of apprentices, SWAC is committed to promoting and creating sustainable apprenticeships, which deliver an impact for both the apprentice and their SME business partners. They create sustainable opportunities by placing the apprentice at the centre, matching and supporting them into the right role, ensuring they complete and/ or progress.

SWAC has employed more than 1,000 apprentices in the South West, working across all sectors. Over the years, it has developed a bespoke mentoring programme, which works with the host and apprentice at every stage of the journey to ensure the apprenticeship has the maximum impact.

Clare Vertigen, managing director of SWAC, said: "As a small business owner, I understand the difficulty and importance of finding the right skills to achieve business growth and how important it is to support and mentor your apprentices to help them achieve their own personal goals and aspirations.

"I am really proud of the support we give our apprentices and what they have all achieved. Becoming a member of The 5% Club is the icing on the cake!"

Gill Cronin, director of operations of The 5% Club, said: "We're delighted to welcome the South West Apprenticeship Company into membership. The 5% Club provides a fantastic network of HR professionals, sharing and learning from each other. All our members share an ethos of creating a skilled workforce through 'earn and learn' development programmes, helping people develop meaningful career paths."

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