APPRENTICESHIPS
Feeding your
future growth
Eventually I want to open my
own restaurant’: Pho apprentice
Katrina Pietersen
For the fourth year running, a ‘100-in-100’ campaign run by the council’s Ealing
Apprenticeship Network has been achieving pledges from local businesses to
create job placements. Jordan Smith found out why it works so well.
T
he idea is to see 100
apprenticeships pledged over
a 100-day period between
September and December. The
final day to make pledges is 9 December,
so it is not too late to get involved.
Since the campaign launched in
2012, more than 100 businesses have
benefited from joining the Network
and more than 450 apprenticeship
vacancies have been created. The
placements combine a job with
training and each take a minimum of a
year to complete. Statistics show that
for every £1 spent on an apprentice, an
employer reaps £18 in return.
One of these businesses Pho, a
Vietnamese cuisine restaurant, has
taken on five apprentices through the
campaign already and has pledged to
take on more this year.
‘GOOD FOR TEAMS AND
MANAGERS’
Lucy Taylor, Pho’s head of people,
said the company had changed
the way it hires – and is focusing
on ‘social recruitment’, making
employment opportunities more
accessible for younger people across
its 19 restaurants – including Ealing
Broadway. As part of this commitment,
Pho also offers apprentices the same
‘It’s good for our teams, and managers’:
Pho’s head of people, Lucy Taylor
26
around ealing
Winter 2016/17
You can see a running total
of the businesses signed up at
www.ealing.gov.uk/apprenticeships
(click on ‘recruit an apprentice’).