Skills & Training

Sector Focus: Skills & Training

Sourcing the perfect apprenticeship

Signed, sealed, delivered… three teenagers who didn’t know what path to take when they left education in lockdown are now beginning careers in logistics.

Their futures look bright thanks to The Source Skills Academy, which found them apprenticeships with innovative company InXpress Sheffield.

The company, a franchise of a larger worldwide logistics operation, was launched in 2018 with the aim of giving city businesses cheaper shipping and logistics support on their doorsteps. It experienced huge growth in the pandemic, as companies turned to e-commerce to get their products to their customers and suppliers.

“We work with a range of local companies –from manufacturers of machine parts, tools and PPE to makers creating anything from recycled cardboard furniture to harmonicas and penny whistles,” said Neil Armstrong, Business Development Manager. “We find them competitive prices from bigname carriers such as DHL, UPS, TNT and FedEx.”

An additional arm of the business, Cloud9 Fulfilment, helps

Source Skills Academy apprentices Alex Watson, Luke Jones and Tom Cutts

local businesses by securely storing their stock and taking care of their e-commerce orders from a customdesigned fulfilment warehouse just off the Parkway.

“Their orders come directly to us and we pick, pack and dispatch on a next-day service,” added Neil.

The growing company decided to go down the route of apprenticeships to give young people the chance of building a career. Neil said: “The pandemic has caused havoc with their futures. They have little training or experience and need that foot in the door and we know the right people will excel in our organisation. Being able to access Government grants has meant we have been able to afford to take on three apprentices.” Alex Watson and Luke Jones, both 19, are Level 3 Business Administrator Apprentices and Tom Cutts, 18, of Brampton Bierlow, Rotherham, is a Digital Marketing Apprentice.

“The Source found us excellent candidates. Tom, Luke and Alex are very bright, committed and keen to learn,” said Neil.

Alex, of Heeley, who gained ALevels at All Saints Sixth Form, said: “I was struggling, not knowing what to do after my education abruptly ended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Suddenly, my ties to universities and future opportunities had been cut. The Source put me forward for what I realised was a unique opportunity to join a promising young business.”

Kerry Cook, Business Development Officer at The Source, said: “During the spring 2020 lockdown I helped Neil and his MD Joshua Hegarty to study via our fully-funded, accredited online management courses.

“They told me about their expansion plans and I explained apprenticeships would be a great way to grow their team. I told them about the funding and incentives available to them, highlighted what apprenticeship roles would suit their needs and matched them with three young people I felt would be fantastic additions to the team.”

Eurosafe invests in safety with new training centre

Eurosafe, a market-leader in working at height training, inspections and equipment, announced completion on their purpose-built training centre in Sheffield.

Armed with 2,800sq ft of indoor training space – with an additional 2,800sq ft of rooftop training space – the centre offers the latest in safety equipment and technology for working at height and working in confined space.

Eurosafe, founded in 2000, works with national brands to deliver safety training, inspection, and equipment services for the construction, industrial, retail, rail, health and aviation sectors.

Starting out with an offering of bespoke access systems and fall protection throughout the UK and Ireland, the company naturally expanded to include training services in 2011.

Throughout the pandemic in 2020, many businesses halted operation. Eurosafe carried on with their plans, investing £400k in a purpose-built centre to take their training services to the next level. They recognised the upcoming need for more working at height and confined space safety training as construction, retail, and industrial operations restart and expand as part of the post-pandemic economy.

One of the most interesting elements of the centre is a two-level confined spaces training crawl space, covering a total of 40m.

Combined with Eurosafe’s track record in working at height safety training, the expansion to hands-on crawl space training with state-ofthe-art MSA breathing apparatus and gas detection technology, partnered with other industry leading fall protection equipment from Globestock, was a logical step in the next moves for the business.

“Having a purpose-built confined space simulation facility, and working with the industry leading safety equipment suppliers for our confined space training, is showing our investment in the safety and wellbeing for the people on the ground,” said Training Manager Simon Miller.