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ith interviewing styles, training systems and hiring techniques being reformed as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, it is vital that businesses in the specialist finance sector are attracting new blood as part of their efforts to bolster their workforces. According to industry specialist Boxtree Recruitment, only 42% of its clients have active training schemes specifically geared towards graduates and trainees joining the industry. The rest have ad hoc, bespoke coaching needs that are determined on a per hire basis, in line with the skills required for the role and the team they are being appointed to. “The specialist lenders we have supported in this space quite often reach a skills gap within their niche,” says Naomi Little, consultant at Boxtree Recruitment. “Hiring a graduate and training from the ground up not only bridges this Words by gap, but offers businesses an affordable way of ‘growing their own’ in line BETH FISHER with ideal credit skills.” Jodie Murray, associate director at Boxtree Recruitment, explains that the biggest benefits can be felt in succession planning, overcoming skills gaps led by location, and moulding candidates to fit company culture—not to mention the fact that it’s an investment in the next generation. “We have consistently helped clients to embrace graduates and trainees when they have requested specific skill sets and industry experience for opportunities presented. The lending recruitment industry is niche and, as such, sometimes we can find these qualities lacking for specific roles. This can be due to myriad reasons around the location, opportunity or specialism of our clients, but it is certainly an enjoyable achievement when How graduates and they heed our advice and appoint a graduate we believe in.” apprentices will help Over the past few years, the industry has rebuild our market after witnessed an increasing scarcity of incoming a tumultuous year skills, with the mission to gain experienced staff becoming an increasingly hefty overhead. While the reduction and recalibration of numerous specialist finance teams was evident during the cursed 2020, many of these people have thankfully been quickly disbursed to new homes. However, it would be wise for the sector not to fall into the same bidding war for talent again. The pandemic generation of young people will be one of the hardest hit this year. Between 23rd March and 31st July last year, just 58,160 apprenticeship starts were reported, 46% down on 2019 figures. Therefore, we urge our own industry to ensure it is providing them with a route to employment—in the interests of these budding careers, the economy, and our own business plans. Fortunately, there are some fantastic businesses who are already offering these programmes, and others that are on the path to introducing such initiatives. DF Capital, for example, recently hired Charlie Michael—who has previously supported similar programmes in other organisations—as its new head of people to help build a varied team of experts. “Having a strong, early-careers recruitment strategy plays well into our diversity aspirations—it will enable us to build a pipeline of talent at a grass-roots level that we can develop and grow through our organisation,” she highlights. To paint an accurate picture of the results achieved by businesses that have executed apprentice schemes, we talk to those at the coalface. 70 Bridging & Commercial