CONSTRUCTION
Qualification – Paralloy has surpassed the UK criteria for membership of the prestigious 5 % Club, which requires 5 % of the workforce to be apprentices, graduates or sponsored students.
METAL AND MENTORS
Training investment pays off for Paralloy
Investment in training and development is paying dividends for Teesside-based stainless steel and nickel specialist Paralloy Group – whether it’ s with new starters or more experienced staff. In just over two years, the firm’ s UK apprentice numbers have rocketed from two to 39, the result of a deliberate policy to develop and nurture the engineers of the future.
The firm’ s investment over the past 12 months includes more than 1,400 hours of leadership training and more than 7,500 hours of apprenticeship and T-level work experience hours.
To ensure apprentices receive highquality guidance, Paralloy has also invested in the development of its workforce by enrolling more than 60 employees in management training courses over the past year.
These programmes have enhanced the mentoring capabilities of middle managers and team leaders, enabling them to support apprentices effectively through the critical early stages of their careers.
It means Paralloy has not only reached the UK criteria for membership of the prestigious, nationally recognised 5 % Club – whose members aspire to have 5 % of their workforce as apprentices, graduates or sponsored students – it’ s sailed past it.
Paralloy Group has also been shortlisted for multiple honours, including for the leadership and strategy category in the prestigious Manufacturer MX Awards.
But the firm, with 560 UK employees in
Billingham, Middlesbrough and Sheffield as part of its 1,000-strong European workforce, isn’ t stopping there.
With its first intake of apprentices still excelling, and subsequent recruits progressing brilliantly, the plan is to build a talent pipeline.
And for recruitment and training coordinator Ian Ford, it’ s a real vindication of Paralloy’ s belief in young talent and training.
He told Tees Business:“ I think some companies fear that they’ ll spend time and money on apprenticeships and not get the reward because they’ ll then move on, but we see it as investing in the future.
“ Of the 39 apprentices we’ ve taken on in the past two-and-a-bit years, we haven’ t lost one. I love that statistic because it shows we’ re doing it right.”
Paralloy has gold standard accreditation from Next Gen Makers – a national community that helps employers develop and maintain successful apprenticeship schemes.
And such partnerships, as well as glowing testimonials from the apprentices themselves as part of the 5 % Club application process, continue to make Paralloy an increasingly attractive option for the next engineering generation.
These options are set to increase too, with Paralloy Group always looking to expand apprenticeship provision.
Ian explained:“ We’ d like to at least maintain the percentage we’ re at, which is around 7 % of the workforce, but introduce new business areas. We’ re working with
WORDS: DAVE ROBSON
colleges on things like T-levels to see if a department can take someone. We did it recently with our HR department – we brought someone in and within four weeks, we took her off her T-level and gave her a full apprenticeship.
“ We’ ve been able to put them into areas of the business where we’ ve never looked at apprenticeships before. In NDT( non-destructive testing), for example, we’ re looking at two. And in our technical department, we’ ve managed to get one in there and we’ ll probably look for two more on a degree-level apprenticeship.”
Ian notes that both CEO Robert McGowan and CFO Michael Dolan began their careers as apprentices, which reinforces their strong commitment to supporting and investing in apprenticeship programmes.
Ian added:“ We know how hard it is to find skilled labour on the open market. We are unique in what we do – we invest time and mentorship into those willing to learn and grow in the industry.
“ Our industry is experiencing an ageing workforce, which makes it essential to invest in apprenticeships now. By doing so, we can leverage the expertise currently within the business to train and transfer critical skills to the next generation before that knowledge is lost.
“ This approach ensures long-term sustainability and capability development.
“ The statistics show that nearly two out of three apprenticeships fail. Well, in just over two years, we’ ve still got all of ours, which shows where we are as a company.”
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