Hamworthy Combustion

Dorset

Tina Buchanan

Group HR Director

Downturn dismay and national belt-tightening may be dominating the news, but the thought-to-be-extinct permanent job is alive and well in Dorset – thanks to an enlightened engineering company and The Bournemouth & Poole College.

Tina Buchanan, Group HR Director at Hamworthy Combustion, says the apprenticeships offered by the college have been such a success that almost all the apprentices who complete the four-year programme are offered full-time permanent jobs with the firm.

“These days, having a job for life is said to be over, but the apprentices can have one in a company like this if they want to,” she says.

“One of our board directors started here as an apprentice at 16. So we have evidence that, given the right apprenticeship and the right experiences, they can have a career path in the company.”

And the right apprenticeship, she believes, means one of those linked to the college.

“For the apprentices and us as a company it’s been very successful. Every single one of them has been through The Bournemouth & Poole College.

“I work directly with the college and they (particularly James O’Neil) are superb. I couldn’t dream of doing this without them.

“We have 100% communication with them and it’s a completely joined-up system. We even hold interviews for the potential apprentices jointly with the college.”

Tina says the company is more than 90 years old and apprenticeships used to be a massive part of its progress.

“We reintroduced them in 2003 because it was important to grow our own engineering skills.

“Thanks to the college and the successful in-house programme, the apprentices have the right attitude and we’re growing our own engineers for the future.

“We average six a year and feel that taking a smaller number gives them a better chance of getting across all parts of the business including the shop floor, drawing office, test rig and the different product sectors.”

The apprentices do 36 weeks at college in the first year and a day a week in the second and subsequent years, with an assessor coming in to review portfolios and see how they’re doing.

“It’s a good system,” says Tina. “The programme we use here means that every three months the apprentices change departments. They grow in their confidence as well as skills and experience.

“Charlie Ryall, a third-year apprentice, is doing remarkably well. As we speak, she’s giving a presentation to The Bournemouth and Poole College’s Engineering & Manufacturing Employers’ Forum on apprenticeships and her experiences.

“She’s started her HNC a year early – in her third year as an apprentice - and is just super. She’s spent a lot of her time on a project to develop a new product with a team of senior people here.

“She’s worked on the test rig, on various projects, and in contracts, and she’ll be travelling all over the UK with service engineers during the Summer.”

Charlie, 19, says she’d recommend an apprenticeship to anyone who wants to get hands-on experience.

“I’ve always been a practical person and the apprenticeship gives you a route into it rather than sitting behind a desk doing a qualification for years.

“A lot of people in engineering have come up through apprenticeships and you get a lot of respect because of that.

“Earning while you’re learning is brilliant - and you don’t come out of an apprenticeship with any debts.”

Bournemouth and Poole College