Catching up with the apprentices

“I finished the apprenticeship aged 52, and I’m 56 now. I was a year younger than our tutor, which was confusing. I got there early and all the students were coming up to me! The apprenticeship has given me a job and a future. But even if I compare it to the warehouse job, it is so much better being a skilled person than stuck in a dead-end job. I just wish I had done it earlier, when I was in my 20s – God knows where I’d be now. I would have liked to go into old buildings, doing technical construction – like church spires, for example – but I’m too old now.

“I’d like to get into doing different things, like vinyl flooring. I’d like to push on and keep learning. We’re so busy at the moment, but my boss has said if we get the chance I can go and do that. There are opportunities here.

“If I could have done anything differently, I would have gone for a trade [as a younger man]. When I was 20, I was in any job I could get, just for the money. I know money isn’t everything, but when you’re young that’s what you look for. I was earning good money stacking shelves while all my friends were on half as much while they trained as apprentices. Now they’re more qualified, earning big money.

“I’ve been off apprentice wages for a few years now. I’m happy – we can do things, go on nice holidays. It was a struggle to start with, but it’s all paid off.”

Leah Robson was 18 when Inside Housing spoke to her in 2014. At the time, she was four months into an apprenticeship with Keepmoat (now part of Engie) as a customer liaison advisor. We catch up with her again.

“I finished the apprenticeship after a year, and I did an NVQ Level 2 in customer care alongside it. They [Keepmoat/Engie] offered me a position as a full resident liaison officer.

“I get paid more these days. They’re going to give me my own company car.”

“The apprenticeship was the right thing to do. I’ve learned so much over the past five years. And I’ve enjoyed it; going into homes at the end of a refurb and seeing how happy the tenants are with their new kitchens and bathrooms gives me so much pride. I come across so many characters. They make my day! In Holbeck in Leeds, we are only doing external works, but I still visit the residents every day for weeks.

Ms Robson shares a joke with Frances Walker, a Leeds City Council tenant

“I knew this was what I wanted to do about seven or eight months into the apprenticeship. Getting more confident made me enjoy the job more. I haven’t had a difficult tenant for a while – I wouldn’t class anyone as difficult now. It doesn’t cross my mind any more; I’m used to doing the job.

“I get paid more these days, too. They’re going to give me my own company car. Last year I went on a programme called New Horizons, which gives staff with potential the chance to progress. At the end I had to give a presentation to the board of directors of Engie; that was nerve-wracking, but it built up my confidence loads.

“As far as my career goes, I want to move up – I want to be a community liaison manager. Juliet [Ms Robson’s line manager] has been giving me tasks from that role. I am definitely moving forward. And if I don’t like or enjoy it, there are opportunities to move into different departments. But I love my job at the moment, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

Andy Jackson’s son Thomas is the only one of the three apprentices Inside Housing spoke to in 2014 who is no longer with Engie. Thomas was 18 at the time, and is now undergoing army training. So his dad, bursting with pride, is speaking to us on his behalf. Andy is a site manger at Engie.

“About midway through his joinery apprenticeship, Thomas went on a week-long adventure course at the army barracks in Ripon [organised by Keepmoat]. He absolutely loved it. The commander of the camp pulled him aside during that week and said: ‘Have you ever thought about joining the Royal Engineers and doing joinery work there?’

“He has always liked the army, so when he finished his NVQ he applied to join. He passed out last Friday – he got top recruit in his section. They have offered him officers’ school straight away. He’s doing really well.

“He is as qualified as the army’s top joiners now.”

“I think his apprenticeship helped him. He’s learned the values of life by going out there and working – going into people’s houses and learning varied skills, like how to treat different people in different ways. That’s what we do here.

“He is as qualified as the army’s top joiners now; his experience over the past four years is probably more than he’s going to see over his next 10 years in the army. Our work is so varied, and I think he realises that now, as well as seeing how much he has achieved.

“He was always very switched on. His work ethic has always been good. He was up at 5am every day to get to his apprenticeship. Not many lads that age are up then. It set him off on a good path.

“And he wants to help people – that’s his nature. That is why he is where he is now. I spoke to the manager who had him [as an apprentice] here, and he said he’d have no problem keeping him on. I stayed away [while Thomas was working with Engie] – I probably would’ve been too tough on him!

“I am very proud of him – of what he has achieved. It was invaluable experience that you’d never get anywhere else, especially aged 17 or 18.

“He’s about to start phase two of his training next week – building bridges and bomb disposal. Slightly different from joinery work! Seeing your son going into the army isn’t ideal, but he’s got to live his life, hasn’t he? He loves it and that’s the main thing.”