Apprentices are an important part of PPS; they are the next generation. Without investing in people through apprenticeships we would have skills gaps and a workforce not capable of meeting our customers needs.
Our biggest area for apprenticeships is engineering. To become a compressed air field service engineer there are technical skills an apprentice needs to master. But, by working at the same time as learning, they develop a whole host of professional, personal and life skills along the way.
We caught up with members of our team and our business community to get different perspectives on the skills for life theme for this year’s National Apprenticeship Week.
Just the beginning: from Engineering Apprentice to Service Director
Starting as an apprentice in the rail industry, Alan Kerr is now the Service Director at PPS. He has worked his way up and supported many apprentices within his various roles along the way.
“Every year we talk about the technical skills, but it is the people side as well. Apprentices are often at a poignant time in their life; they have a lot going on outside of work as well as their development in work.
“I think it can be the base foundation for who they want to become. Learning the skills to be able to deal with what life throws at you and succeed, it’s not just learning engineering, it’s a step into a career – that’s how I saw it when I was doing mine.
“Depending what shift I was on when I did mine, I could have been with 1 of 60 people, I saw very varied approaches – good and bad! But it gave me different role models and influences, these help shape who you want to become.
“Even back in the 80s kids struggled to talk to adults and to build confidence, you just don’t have much experience of it. You need experience to build professional skills.
“Early on, you sometimes wonder if apprentices will get there. Can they build trust with customers? Can they manage their own time? Can they adapt to changes at work? Can their colleagues rely on them?
“At PPS they are normally buddied up with a couple of engineers, so they see different expertise, different jobs, different personalities. They get a lot of one-to-one attention which helps develop them. As they progress into the third and fourth year they go out on their own where they can put all their learning into practice. By the end of the course there is never any doubt that they are more than capable.”
Skills for Life: What skill did you learn early on that you still use today?
Here we put the Skills for Life theme to the test by asking various members of the PPS team who are or have been apprentices; What skill did you learn early on that you still use today?
- Jamie Roper, Apprentice Engineer (final year), “Understanding the electrical control system and how to read electrical wiring diagrams”.
- Kane White, Apprentice Engineer (final year), “When I first started, I had to talk to customers, which really helped my confidence”.
- Dave Sharp, Sheet Metal Fabricator, “The apprenticeship was sheet metal work, so that's the trade that I actually still use today and I’ll use all my life”.
- Harry Howarth, Apprentice Engineer (first year), “Safely working with electrics and isolating and making sure it's completely safe to work with”
- Dan Royle, Operations Manager, “Not being embarrassed about asking lots of questions, and having the confidence to keep asking and probing and being curious”.
- Craig Simper, Finance Director, “Being able to link the theory of work and relate it to actually working in practice”.
- Andy Mitchell, Pipefitter Supervisor, “Technical drawing is a skill I learned early in my college days. I still use that today”.
A trainer’s perspective: how skills for life are developed
PPS apprentices based at the Brighouse head office complete their training at Appris in Bradford, the regions leading provider of engineering apprenticeships. Trevor Hoyle is the training advisor assigned to PPS, having come from a customer facing engineering background himself he is a great match to guide the team. He spoke to us about how he sees the skills for life develop in apprentices.
“I’ve been assessing apprenticeships and NVQ’s for 18 years. There’s been a lot of changes in that time. We noticed a big change with the new standard in 2017, we used to just have the knowledge and skills criteria that we assessed, but now we have the behaviours part of it as well.
“You see a lot of different people come through the programs, different personality types. Some are driven and dynamic to start with, others need an arm round their shoulder, so to speak and more coaching. But, with the apprenticeship approach to building skills for life, they all get there, some just take a bit longer than others to develop.
“There is a whole module on the softer skills, it really helps bring out the professional side, which is really important in your industry. You can’t be a wallflower; you have to get involved when you are customer facing.
“Being thrown into the workplace is good for them. They start fresh faced and become a trusted service engineer. It’s more than the technical aspect and filling in the service documents, they have to talk to customers, make them aware of the work they have carried out and what will happen on the next visit, is it going to impact shopfloor production? Do they need to reschedule? They’ve got to be able to build rapport.
“It’s amazing watching apprentices follow that learning curve and then suddenly you just see them come through and succeed. For so many it really changes them as a person.
“I look after 50 learners across different businesses and industries. It’s such a positive environment, everyone is invested in helping the next generation to succeed and build skills for life”.
Conclusion
At PPS, apprenticeships are about more than developing technical capability, they are about building people. Alongside engineering skills, apprentices learn how to communicate, take responsibility, adapt to change and build trust with customers and colleagues.
The experiences shared across the business show that these skills for life develop through real work, strong support and exposure to different people and challenges. With the right environment, apprentices grow in confidence and capability, progressing from learners to trusted professionals.
By investing in apprenticeships, PPS is investing in its future workforce and in the long term success of its customers. Because an apprenticeship isn’t an end point, it’s the foundation for a career that can grow, evolve and last.