Serving the Teesside Business Community | 25
Beth Carwardine has won a place as an
apprentice with Cobra Middlesbrough,
a road/rail terminal based in the old
Middlesbrough Goods Yard.
Apprentice Beth weighs in
with wagon-loads of talent
“We can help businesses to plan their
workforce development around the Levy and
its implications.
“Apprenticeships are a proven, cost
effective way to increase business growth.
By investing in managers of the future
businesses can bank future productivity
gains.”
Meanwhile funding is also available to
Tees Valley businesses who want to build
apprenticeships training into their workforce
strategies.
The Tees Valley Apprenticeship Grant offers
employers £3,500 to support the costs of
recruiting an apprentice (aged between 16-24
years old), provided they commence their
apprenticeship training before the December
31, 2016
Northern Skills Group is responsible for
more than 2,000 apprentices across the
North East and North Yorkshire.
The group’s training team – specifically
chosen for industry expertise – is equipped
to work with employers and learners to
get the most value from apprenticeship
programmes in the workplace.
For more information on how Northern
Skills Group can help your business,
contact our business advisors on 03453 40
40 40 or info@northernskills.co.uk
S
eventeen-year-old Beth Carwardine is
showing she’s no lightweight when it
comes to tackling an apprenticeship –
because she weighs wagons for a living.
And Beth, from Darlington, says she
owes her burgeoning career in logistics
to a good grounding at Middlesbrough
College.
Beth won a place as an apprentice with
Cobra Middlesbrough, a road/rail terminal
based in the old Middlesbrough Goods
Yard.
Beth and her two fellow colleagues,
weigh all the lorries in and out of the North
Road site, after the college fixed her up
with a work placement there.
She said: “When I left school I did a
few different things, but then I saw the
NVQ course in logistics at the college and
thought it looked interesting.
“As part of the course, they arranged
the work placement for me – and I really
enjoyed it. My work includes waving
wagons on and off the weighbridge,
handling invoices, logging orders and
handling other kinds of admin.”
Cobra liked Beth too, and took her
on. She’s now starting an 18-month
apprenticeship with the company, and
returns to the college one day a week as
part of it.
Geoff Robinson, operations director at
Cobra, said: “Beth is like a breath of fresh
air. She is full of enthusiasm and learning
more skills every day.
“We look forward to her taking on more
responsibilities in the future”.
Beth is studying IT level 2 and Supply
Chain level 2 at the college, and says she
loves it there.
“I’d 100% recommend other young
people to go there – they treat you like an
adult and help you all the way through,”
she said.
College principal and chief executive
Zoe Lewis said Beth is a good example
of a student who is following the
apprenticeship route into an excellent
career.
“We train around 1,000 apprentices
every year at the college, and pride
ourselves on our facilities,” she said.
“There’s a huge skills shortage in the UK
at the moment, and apprenticeships are a
practical and useful way to help address –
it means companies can recruit the skilled
young people they need to grow and
prosper.
“We pride ourselves on our close links
with local businesses and industry, and
it really pays off with the support we can
give to students like Beth – she’s done
really well, and we wish her luck with her
apprenticeship.”