Tens of thousands of new homes are expected to be built in the Milton Keynes – Bedford area in the next few years and the construction industry is having to gear up to be able to meet the necessary capacity.  For many companies, apprenticeships in partnership with training providers like Milton Keynes College Group, are at the heart of such expansion and in this, National Apprenticeship Week (9^th-15^th Feb), employers are looking at how they can drive that growth.

Bedford-based housing association, bpha, has more than 20,000 homes in the Oxford Cambridge arc which is earmarked for rapid development in the government’s industrial strategy.  And apprentices at the company, like Saskia Kennedy will be crucial to that growth.  At 26, Saskia had worked in various jobs including childcare and warehouse management, but didn’t feel like she’d found her perfect niche.  Today she’s a bpha and Milton Keynes College apprentice painter and decorator, and she’s absolutely loving it.

“You’re earning and learning at the same time,” she says, “and you constantly take the things you’ve picked up at college into the workplace and vice versa.  Having that combination of working for a living and being taught in the classroom is a really good balance and a great way to learn.  You pick things up from the lecturers and the people you work with which I really enjoy.  Honestly, I’m loving it.”

All property maintenance at bpha has recently begun to be brought in house and the apprenticeship route is seen as a great way to achieve that, and also to bolster other areas of the organisation.

Head of People from bpha, Zylene Chamberlain says, “We wanted to start to grow our own talent and to work closely with our local training providers like Milton Keynes College to ensure that we were giving opportunities, not only for employment but also to support the development of communities in the area.  This year we’ve gone from three apprentices to thirty-three and we have plans to build that number up to seventy-five or eighty.  Today’s apprentices become tomorrow’s mentors for the next group of apprentices, and we find that people who’ve come into the organisation in that way really want to help the next generations coming through.”

Apprenticeships cover a wide range of areas and bpha supports existing team members, not just working in construction trades but also in its offices.  Zylene says, “One of our colleagues in accounting is now on her level four apprenticeship which is equivalent to university level.  We’re sponsoring her for that because it’s obviously a benefit to the business that she increases her skills, but it also means she can progress in her career without leaving us.  Apprenticeships can be about staff retention as well as recruitment.”

Anna Clarke, Group Director for Employer Engagement and Partnerships at Milton Keynes College says, “The theme of this year’s National Apprenticeship Week is Skills for Life: It all starts with Skills, and that is so true.  It’s not about age or previous experience; starting an apprenticeship is about commitment to a career and the desire to work and learn.  We offer apprenticeships from Level 2, which is GCSE level, right the way up to Level 5 which is equivalent to university standards.  There are apprenticeships in so many areas – business, digital, hospitality, engineering; you can launch a new career in just about anything with an apprenticeship, and with the best of both worlds, at work and in the classroom.”

For more information on apprenticeships at Milton Keynes College, visit Apprenticeships – MK College