MANDY’S MESSAGE

Since our last edition, Apprenticeship Recruitment and Business Development team leader Mandy Shepherd speaks of the challenges brought to us with by the recent COVID-19 Pandemic and shares a huge thank you to our apprentices, employers and all staff involved.

This has been an unbelievably challenging year everyone, nothing could have prepared us for the year that we have all had. There have been so many uncertainties and challenges to every organisation.

Sat waiting in our recruitment pool was an abundance of fantastic applicants from right across the City. These young people were about to leave school or college with a predicted grade and unsure of their next steps.

This was one of the most challenging times our recruitment team had ever faced and we made it our priority to ensure support was tailored to each individual. The delivery team adapted to digital learning and we became a digital recruitment service. We supported employers with government grants and managed to prevent redundancies by working with the local authorities on the displaced apprenticeship grant to ensure our apprentices remained in employment.

The first lockdown in March now feels like a long time ago, and since then we have watched businesses and candidates grow to work around the pandemic. Together we have learnt how to work around a pandemic and continue to drive apprenticeship opportunities together. This year our team has had an even closer relationship with employers than ever before.

With the help of the government grants, our number of SME employers is higher than it has ever been at this time of the year. Seeing our apprenticeship start rate being higher than usual at this time of year, truly reflects on this. This is an unbelievable achievement for all.

On behalf of the Apprenticeship recruitment team I would like to thank all employers we are currently working with for your continuous partnership to create apprenticeship opportunities. As a team, we would like to say a huge congratulations to all of our 2020 apprentices. The determination we have seen this year to create futures for yourselves is immense and something you should be incredibly proud of.

As a team, we are extremely proud seeing our new apprentices in their employment and hearing fantastic feedback. Our team has shown a huge amount of dedication and flexibility and worked harder than ever to create a better future for young people.

I’d like to say a special thank you to our clients, we truly could not have done this without you. Reminder For any employer who recruited/will recruit an apprentice from August 1st 2020 - 31st March 2021, you may be eligible for the Apprenticeship Grants, and will need to apply via GOV.UK account. If you need help, contact Mandy. There is still time to recruit to apply for the grants! At this time of year, we usually invite you for a celebratory Christmas lunch. Due to this not taking place this year, our recruitment team would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

MANDY SHEPHERD APPRENTICESHIP RECRUITMENT & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TEAM LEADER

T M E W 0161 631 5581 07540 672 476 mandy.shepherd@salfordcc.ac.ukwww.salfordcc.ac.uk

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