Trethem Mill Touring Park

St Just-In-Roseland

Ian Akeroyd

Partner

Few family business owners realise they can take on their sons or daughters as apprentices – but the benefits  of doing so can transform lives as well as the bottom line.

Ian Akeroyd, a partner in Trethem Mill Touring Park in St Just-In-Roseland, Cornwall, discovered those benefits for himself when Truro & Penwith College helped him create an apprenticeship for his son, Jake.

“We didn’t want Jake to leave school and come straight into the business, and he didn’t want to go to university, so this was the perfect way for him to continue his education while getting him working as well,” says Mr Akeroyd.

“It’s been a great benefit to us financially because if he hadn’t done an apprenticeship we would have had to fund all the courses he went on ourselves. It would have added up, because some of the courses cost £300 a day.

“There was a great mixture of courses and the college’s Business Centre managed to get funding right across the spectrum. Jake completed his apprenticeship in less than a year, thanks to the college’s flexibility.”

Mr Akeroyd says that having an assessor coming in strengthens a small business by checking up on what it does, for example, on the health and safety side.

“It’s good to have a qualified person in, checking things,” he says. “We always have a debriefing session afterwards to see what we can do to improve things, and the feedback has been very good.

“We had a very good assessor. Some of the things Jake was told were already second nature to him but they reinforced it by giving him the reasons behind the things he’d been doing. And being here on the job, he has had a lot less downtime and been a lot more productive more of the time.

“He’s really enjoyed his apprenticeship and got a lot out of it. Before that he wasn’t in full-time education due to a medical condition. This is a real confidence-builder for him. He’s been getting out and meeting different people.

“From a business point of view I would genuinely consider having another apprentice. When they come into a business young, they learn everything from scratch and don’t arrive with bad habits!”

Jake, 17, is equally enthusiastic.

“It’s the on-the-job practical training, and I’m able to continue my education while having the benefits of full-time employment,” he says.

“My assessor came out every two weeks and gave advice on the courses I was doing. They have all been good for my personal development as well as for the business.

“Having the assessor come here has made life a lot easier. I’ve only had to go into Truro College for some day courses.”

So would he recommend an apprenticeship to other young people?

“Definitely!” he says. “Being able to continue my education as well as being able to work is the best of both worlds.”

Truro & Penwith College, Truro