SPP Pumps

Coleford, Gloucester

Gary Hurcombe

Maintenance Manager

Gary Hurcombe knows all about apprentices. He’s been taking them on for a decade. But even he didn’t realise how lucky he was when Oliver Jenkins walked into his office at SPP Pumps in Coleford, Gloucester.

For Oliver, now 22, worked so hard that he finished his apprenticeship a year early.

In the view of Mr Hurcombe, the company’s Maintenance Manager, Oliver’s success is yet more proof that his investment in apprenticeships is paying off.

“We’re in quite a remote rural area and there isn’t an abundance of engineers in the locality, so we decided to train our own,” he says.

“They go into every department of the company to get a broad knowledge and at the end we try to place them where they have most enjoyed being.

“In Oliver’s case, all the departments tried to grab him at the end of his placement!

“Apprentices are a low cost while they’re training because they’re not spending all their time with us, and it’s surprising what projects they can pick up and see through to fruition.

“A lot of our ex-apprentices are in key jobs with us. And they’re cross-trained, so they’re able to help out wherever they’re needed.”

Mr Hurcombe gives a lot of the credit for his apprentices’ success to Gloucestershire College.

“We have a very good relationship with the college and are working toward becoming a satellite training centre for it,” he says. “I’m becoming a qualified verifier for NVQs myself.”

Oliver, an Advanced Engineering Apprentice, helped set up the company’s apprentices’ association which has raised more than £1,000 for local charities.

“My apprenticeship’s been an enjoyable experience,” says Oliver. “I’ve learnt a lot of different aspects of engineering from machining to design and how the company works, through purchasing, quality control, manufacturing and health and safety.

“I like how you can relate what you do at college to what you can do at work. I’d recommend it.”

Gloucestershire College