Global recruiter, Morson Group welcomed apprentices past and present to an event celebrating National Apprenticeship Week.
The event took place on Wednesday 5 March at Morson’s head office in Salford and was attended by members of the National Apprenticeship Service, skills providers and employers. The event was endorsed by ex-apprentice Sir Alex Ferguson who wrote to the apprentices to congratulate them on their achievements.
Morson has supported apprenticeship programmes for the past 30 years across various engineering sectors including rail. Its most recent project was to invest over £1 million and work collaboratively with various national stakeholders to secure the safeguarding of over 200 rail apprenticeship programmes nationwide.
To date, over 75 per cent of the people who successfully completed their apprenticeships have entered employment. Three of the apprentices attending the event spoke publically about their experiences and how their apprenticeship had helped them.
Ged Mason, CEO of Morson Group, said, ‘Morson has recognised the importance of apprenticeships and training for many years, and we are proud to be able to host an event that celebrates the hard work undertaken by trainers, skills providers, funding agencies and of course the apprentices themselves.
(This event) was very much about recognising the place of apprenticeships in education, and especially for those in the engineering industry which currently faces a serious skills shortage across all sectors. It is important that the profile of apprenticeships is raised and we were encouraged by the excellent work of the National Apprenticeship Service, highlighted this week by the many hundreds of events taking place over the UK.’
Talented young people
In his letter to apprentices, Sir Alex Ferguson wrote, ‘Gaining an apprenticeship is a valuable tool and allows you to enter the world of work equipped with the skills and knowledge you need to progress in your chosen career.
I started my working life as an apprentice in Glasgow, and it was a fantastic part of my life. Apprentices give you a workforce, a regeneration of skilled people in an industry that is in real need of talented young people.’
Hazel Blears, Labour MP for Salford and Eccles, said, ‘I have met so many talented young people in Salford who want to get on in life but just need that chance to show what they can do.
‘Morson has a great track record in giving some of them that opportunity through its apprenticeships and the company also employed two young people from my Kids without Connections work experience scheme last year. I was delighted to hear it had been able to keep on over 200 apprentices after its takeover of Vital Rail, and I hope all those will go on to fulfilling careers.’
Attendees enjoyed hearing from a number of speakers, including Morson’s first ever apprentice, Steve Seddon, now Client Services Director at the company. Those who spoke also included Matt Leavis, a key figure in the organisation of training for Vital Human Resources, a subsidiary of Morson Group, and John Myers of the National Apprenticeship Service.
The event was closed by Morson’s CEO, Ged Mason, who presented apprentices with a letter and signed book from Sir Alex Ferguson.
