Apprentices and School Leavers Conference 2015

Expert business, finance and law apprenticeship training and support from one of Europe’s largest specialist professional education providers.

Aligned to industry recognised professional qualifications with clear progression paths to full professional or postgraduate qualifications, BPP work with employers to create and deliver bespoke apprenticeship and school leaver programmes tailored to individual business needs to recruit and develop the professionals of tomorrow.

Founded in 2004 by Professor Peter Saville, Saville Consulting is an international assessment business working with organizations to identify, select and develop talented individuals and teams.

Our vision is to transform assessment around the world with leading edge psychometrics. All of our assessments have been developed through extensive research into what drives successful workplace performance.

Saville Consulting’s efficient and straightforward approach to apprentice recruitment helps clients recruit secure the best early careers talent using fresh and modern psychometric assessments.

GTI Recruiting Solutions is one of the world’s leading student and graduate outsourcing recruitment specialists.

We bring the latest ideas, innovation and best practice to our clients’ campaigns, allowing them to recruit the best fit talent for their organisations. We focus on building long standing relationships with a small number of clients, achieved only by delivering proven, measurable results providing real benefits to all stakeholders within their businesses.

Using our pioneering strengths-based assessment techniques and recruitment solutions, organisations around the world are hiring candidates that are a perfect fit for their business – seeing new hires settle in quicker, perform better in their roles and be more productive over time.

Our early career solutions from attraction through to induction have helped organisations including EY, Nestle, BT and Lloyds Banking Group to attract, select, develop and retain the very best candidates.

Milkround is your graduate career resource with hundreds of internships, placements, graduate jobs and schemes. Start your job search here, or use our advice pages to research careers and help with your decision making. 

We’re committed to giving students and graduates career confidence, and that means conquering fears of finding, applying and making that first step on the career ladder. With Milkround you get direct access to employers.

Chair’s opening remarks

Sue Husband, Director of Apprenticeships and Delivery Service, Skills Funding Agency

Examining the political landscape for traineeships and apprenticeships

• Raising the profile of careers advice
• Setting targets for apprenticeship engagements
• Increasing focus on destination as a measure of success
• Reframing options for progression

Patrick Craven, Director of Assessment Policy, Research and Compliance, City & Guilds

Improving the recruitment and employability of apprenticeship applicants

• Finding top talent through a positive and employability centred recruitment process
• Creating an engaging and realistic preview to enhance interaction with the process and understanding of the role
• Using carefully designed rejection strategies that can still encourage young people into work
• Helping employers build the employability of young people as well as developing their future applicant pools

Chris Small, Deputy CEO, Saville Consulting

Influencing the influencers; the role of parents in the school leaver careers decision making process

• How do you reach parents?
• How do you convince them that university isn’t always the best route?
• Employer branding and how it needs to be different for parents and school leavers
• Working in collaboration with the student and their parents

Matt Dacey, Director Products and Services, Group GTI

Questions and discussion with speakers

Developing apprentices to degree level and beyond

• Using development to attract apprentices
• Progressing apprentices using the new degree apprenticeships
• Developing future talent pipelines
• Development options and levels

James Hammill, Director, BPP Professional Apprenticeships

Development and engagement to drive your programme forward

• Why engage with apprentice s and what works?
• Developing new progression routes for apprentices
• What happens after the apprenticeship; continuing workplace learning
• Retaining apprentices and ensuring the are in the organisation for the long term

Sarah Hardy Pickering, Learning & Development Manager, Weightmans LLP

Questions and discussion with speakers

Knowledge share networking session

Round table discussions with your peers to share your challenges and solutions.

Maintaining the energy in a well-established apprentice programme

• Business changes and drivers to review the programme
• Managing expectations of both the business and apprentices
• Ensuring the programme remains visible internally and externally to new recruits
• Key learnings along the way

Lorraine Braben, Human Factors & Competence Superintendent, Cristal Pigment UK Ltd

Step by step guide to starting your scheme

• Practicalities of setting up apprenticeship
• Pitfalls and problems
• Content and structures
• Gaining buy-in

Nick McGlashan, UK Apprenticeship Programme Manager, Tesco Stores Limited

Tailoring apprenticeship development to the needs of the your organisation

• Taking an agile approach to development to ensure it fits
• Working in partnership with your provider
• Gaining accreditation for as many programmes as possible
• Balancing higher and entry level schemes

Janet Woods, National Learning & Development Manager, Argos

Practicalities and benefits of an apprentice programme in an SME

• Top tips for attracting and recruiting your apprentice
• Embedding training and development
• Driving business growth
• Benefits to the business

Phil Warnock, Managing Director, Ginger Nut Media

Questions and discussion with speakers

Questions and discussion with speakers

Working together; partnering with educators

• Schools and colleges perspective of apprenticeships vs. university
• How to build partnerships with schools

Sandra Kelly, Head of Education, Whitbread

Do apprenticeships for older people work?

• Enabling skilled older workers to get back into work
• Unlocking potential and making the most of previous experience
• Routes to recruitment
• Embedding Engagement; supporting apprentices from their first day of work

Mike Thompson, Director of Early Careers, Barclays Bank

Questions and discussion with speakers

Chair’s closing remarks and end of conference

Patrick Craven, Director – Assessment Policy, Research and Compliance, City & Guilds UK

Patrick has over 25 years experience in the field of assessment design and educational technology. From the design of educational resources with the Microelectronics Support Unit, National Council for Educational Technology and BECTa to running of post-sales technology support departments for KRCS (Apple Computer reseller), his career has always addressed the fusion of education and new technologies.For the last 15 years this work has focussed on the specific field of learning and assessment technology research and development for the RSA Examinations Board, OCR Examinations, Cambridge Assessment Group and now he leads on Policy, Product Research and Design for City & Guilds. This role considers the growing impact of policy and new technologies on the learning and assessment industry. It also identifies initiatives to enable City & Guilds to develop and extend the range and quality of learning and assessment products and services they offer.

Janet Woods, National Learning & Development Manager, Argos

Janet has worked at Home Retail Group for over 25 years in different roles and continues to enjoy the challenge of a rapidly changing organization. She is currently the National Learning and Development Manager for Argos Retail (and more recently Customer Services which includes the Contact Centre operation for Home Retail Group).Argos is going through a period of transformation and growing and developing talent is at the heart of the organisation. Janet is responsible for all of the talent development programmes under the newly created “Argos Retail Academy” as well as the apprenticeship programme and leadership development for managers moving in to new formats and transformation roles.As part of the apprenticeship work Janet was recently asked to sit on the Retail Trailblazer committee which advises the government on the future of the qualifications, in Argos there are have nearly 600 apprentices throughout the store network and a couple of Apprentices have won awards. Argos recently started running an ILM level 5 programme for high potential store managers which is working out really well, you can see the value of qualifications and look forward to being able to offer more opportunities to existing and new recruits in the future

James Hammill, Director, BPP Professional Apprenticeships

James is the leader of two of the fastest growing business units within the BPP Professional Education Group, BPP Professional Apprenticeships and BPP Financial Services.He has been working in the professional education business for the past 12 years starting out as a tutor for the Financial Training Company before taking on a series of management positions and eventually moving to BPP three years ago.For the past three years James has worked with some of the leading employers in the UK to help them professionalise their workforce through establishing apprenticeship programmes, enhancing graduate schemes, providing professional qualification training and degrees for existing staff as well as supporting professional development.With the continual need to professional the workforce and the growing demand for early career talent there has never been a more exciting time to be involved in professional training and apprenticeships.

Lorraine Braben, Human Factors & Competence Superintendent, Cristal Pigment UK Ltd

Lorraine Braben is the Human Factors and Competence Superintendent at Cristal Pigments UK Ltd, where she manages the training, development and competence programmes for the UK site, as well as providing the lead for the human factors agenda in the process safety management system. Lorraine worked for many years as a chartered chemical engineer before becoming a qualified HR professional. She led the introduction of human factors on site, developing and delivering training in a wide range of topics within this subject area.The Cristal site has a long history of delivering apprenticeships since its beginnings in the 1950s and now runs programmes covering the key technical disciplines required for a chemical processing facility. Its engineering programmes are accredited by the IEF and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and Cristal has worked with other companies on the Humber Bank to develop a common scheme for process apprentices. Since taking on her current L&D management position, Lorraine has been involved in the management of the apprenticeship programmes, leading recruitment, monitoring and review processes with individual apprentices.

Phil Warnock, Managing Director, Ginger Nut Media

Phil is the founder and Managing Director of Ginger Nut Media. With over 15 years’ experience in different forms of media working for market leading media owners including the Mirror and IPC Magazines whom were the largest consumer magazine publisher in Europe at the time Phil worked there. He has a unique cross channel insight allowing for the implementation of online campaigns with a broad knowledge pool of campaign success drivers.In his spare time Phil has been a business coach for foundation east that is a government backed scheme encouraging lending to 18-30 year olds in the region. He was also as a trustee to the Jimmy Mizen foundation and is an Ambassador for the National Apprentice Scheme. Ginger Nut Media were the proud winners of the Virgin Trains Best New SME at the National Apprentice Awards 2014.

Matt Dacey, Director Products and Services, Group GTI

Matt Dacey is the Director of Products and Services at Group GTI . After an initial career as a City broker he has spent the past 15 years at mobile network operators O2 and T-Mobile, large publishing companies such as Emap and the last 3 years at GTI helping guide their transition from being a traditional print publisher to becoming a multi-channel producer of products and services. He is responsible for all student facing products including TARGETjobs, TARGETpostgrad and TARGETcareers – their new website and print products for school leavers.

Chris Small, Deputy CEO, Saville Consulting

Chris manages Saville Consulting’s international business, with responsibility for overseas clients, a network of 55 international partners and overseas development. He frequently delivers talent programmes and speaks at talent events in countries including Russia, India, China, Brazil and the US.A Chartered Psychologist with a strong consulting background, he has delivered talent assessment and graduate assessment solutions for many multinational companies including Jaguar Land Rover, Nestlé, PwC and Verizon. He is a fan of utilising high technology solutions to streamline recruitment efficiency within many of his projects and works closely with clients to understand and incorporate their cultural fit into assessment processes.

Sue Husband, Director of Apprenticeships and Delivery Service, Skills Funding Agency

Sue Husband is the Executive Director for Apprenticeships and Delivery Services for the Skills Funding Agency (SFA), an executive agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).The SFA is responsible for £4.1 billion of funding each year, supporting skills training through contracts with employers, and over 1,000 colleges and private training organisations in England. Their job is to fund and promote adult further education (FE) and skills training in England, including traineeships and apprenticeships, in a way that supports economic growth.Sue is responsible for the apprenticeships division, ensuring the delivery of high-quality apprenticeships for employers and individuals through the agency’s two customer-facing services: the National Apprenticeship Service and the National Careers Service. This includes the promotion of apprenticeships; the provision of a responsive, high-quality service to employers; working with partners to improve the design and delivery of high-quality apprenticeships; championing and supporting traineeships as part of the apprenticeship family; and the promotion of the WorldSkills UK skills competitions to employers and young people.Before joining the SFA, Sue spent 26 years working for McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd. Her most recent role was as Head of Education, where she had responsibility for McDonald’s Education programmes, from apprenticeships through to foundation degrees.

Nick McGlashan, UK Entry Level Programmes Manager, Tesco

Nick has worked as retail manager for both food and DIY companies. On completion of his CIPD qualification he worked for 2 years as a Training and Development Manager for Healthcare Hawkes Bay in New Zealand before returning to the UK and taking up a position with Tesco as Operational Personnel Manager. He has worked in a number of different functions across the business delivering a variety of roles including group performance management, organisation design, training and development and latterly the design and delivery of both retail and office based higher apprenticeship programmes.

Sarah Hardy Pickering, Learning & Development Manager, Weightmans LLP

Sarah Hardy-Pickering is the Learning and Development Manager at Weightmans LLP. Sarah has been instrumental in Weightmans recruitment of their apprentices including the first Level 4 legal Apprentice in the country and oversees their apprenticeship pathways. Sarah is also responsible for the strategic development of Partners and Associates at the firm.Prior to joining Weightmans Sarah was a Principal Lecturer in Law and lectured at Universities in Liverpool, Manchester, Glamorgan, Malaysia and the South Pacific where she designed, developed and delivered courses on negotiation, mediation and interviewing skills as well as land law and succession.Having spent 24 years teaching people how to be lawyers she was tempted into the commercial world by the challenge of teaching lawyers how to be people.

Sandra Kelly, Head of Education, Whitbread

Mike Thompson, Director of Early Careers, Barclays Bank

Mike has been working in Barclays for over 24 years in a variety of frontline and support leadership roles across the business.His past five years have been in HR, where he has built up extensive experience implementing management and leadership development programmes, employee engagement programmes and more recently, managing the development of Barclays learning and development curriculum.His recent projects include the roll out of the Leadership Excellence Programme across RBB (retail and business banking) and the delivery of the “Be the Change” employee engagement programme also across the global retail bank.Mike currently manages a number of award winning early careers programmes including the Barclays apprenticeship programme and Barclays degree programme that won the CIPD Best Talent Programme 2012.He is passionate about developing young talent and tackling diversity and equality issues as well as providing meaningful solutions that address youth unemployment.