As part of National Apprenticeship Week I met with 4 apprentices - Harry Rayner, Emily Argyrou, Thomas Lucas and Rosina Chester along with Paul McClean, Janine Hornsby and Katherine Williams from Marshall Aerospace and Defence to hear about their experiences and projects they are working on at the South East Cambridgeshire based company.
The Marshall Group has a proud 100 year history of providing training opportunities for young people across the UK, and the apprentices I met with told me about their work at the Marshall Centre as well as the challenges they have faced with switching to home based working due to the pandemic.
Marshall opened the Marshall Centre in Cambridge last year. Dedicated to delivering training and education for lifelong learning, it is already supporting over 150 individuals at various stages of their apprenticeship journey which vary from one year business administration courses through to four year engineering degrees.
Whilst the vast majority of the current cohort sits within the Marshall Aerospace and Defence division of the group, predominantly focussed on aerospace and engineering, Marshall Centre is using its ‘main provider’ status to expand its offering to provide programmes for other businesses and aspires to be supporting over 700 apprentices across the globe by 2025.
Apprenticeships provide employers access to untapped potential and talent and help us build the future by equipping young people with key skills. The apprentices I spoke with said how beneficial the experience has been, particularly when it comes to good networking and skill development. The Government is working hard to expand the number of apprenticeships that are available, as well as making it easier for employers to take on an apprentice.
