Bath & North East Somerset Council

Bath

Mary Surry

Administration Manager

Everyone’s a winner when you offer young people apprenticeships, according to a senior figure at Bath & North East Somerset Council.

The apprentices’ determination to prove themselves has impressed Mary Surry, the council’s Administration Manager for Education Inclusion Services, who says apprenticeships have tangible benefits for the authority as well as for the young people themselves.

“We want to give young people an opportunity to get some work experience under their belt and take the first step on to the career ladder,” she says.

“For my team, there’s the enjoyment of developing an apprentice. They get real fulfilment from that. And from a budgetary point of view, it’s very good value for money.

“I’ve had two apprentices who were really successful. Nick Fortt had had a job in retail before and decided it wasn’t for him.

“He arrived as a 17-year-old and was a bit shy and not that confident, though he was very skilled IT-wise and very personable.

“It was just fantastic to see him start to blossom and grow in confidence. One thing that impressed me most was that he didn’t like answering the phone but chose to do the telephone skills module so it would make him have to do it.

“I really admired that because I don’t know if I could have done that if I’d been him.

“He’s since got a job in Children’s Services and his current manager says the grounding he was given in his apprenticeship put him in a far better position to be taken on.

“Our other former apprentice, Emily, also has a job in Children’s Services.”

Both apprentices learned under the wing of the council’s former Training Services department, whose experts now provide exactly the same service under the umbrella of City of Bath College.

““We’ll certainly be sending our next apprentice to City of Bath College,” says Mary. “I would definitely recommend apprenticeships to other employers, and I hope more people will get on board because it’s such a worthwhile scheme with winners all round.”

Nick Fortt is happy to second that.

“The tutors who are now at City of Bath College gave me so much confidence and interview skills I might never otherwise have had. They were so helpful and made sure everything was working well.

“Apprenticeships are good because you gain experience and qualifications while doing the job. Mary was so supportive and I couldn’t have a better team or placement. I’d recommend an apprenticeship to anyone.”

City of Bath College