ACR Journal

December 2020 | January 2021 REFRIGERATION 20 Volume 7 No.1 It has been five years since the SURE Solutions business was set up from a kitchen table and from the outset, apprentices were always going to play a big part in helping the organisation meet its growth ambitions. Managing Director Garry Shaw is a big advocate. He said “Our rapid expansion has given us the opportunity to invest heavily in the skills and training of our team, and the future of the business in our apprenticeship programme. Over 85% of our workforce started their careers as apprentices, myself included, so we know they are a big part of how the business will sustain itself in the future.” SURE now has a full pipeline of apprentices in front line engineering roles and in back oce business operations roles, Building SURE foundations Against a background of continued growth since its launch, Merseyside-based industrial refrigeration specialist SURE Solutions is striking a balance of expanding for both the short and the long term. ACR Journal spoke to Managing Director Garry Shaw and Operations Director Craig Shaw to find out more about its flexible apprenticeship programme. working with four di erent colleges in the North West, North East and Midlands to provide robust development programmes. Craig Shaw heads up the apprenticeship programme and, having initially completed his engineering apprenticeship with Unilever in Port Sunlight, knows the value that apprentices can bring. He said: “We want to position ourselves as a progressive company in all aspects of our work. Our apprentices bring so many fresh ideas to the table that can push us all on. It’s almost like they keep us on our toes and consider problems from di erent angles. Literally and figuratively, they are the future of our business. I see a large part of my job as providing them with appropriate development opportunities and ensure they are suitably challenged.” Mature apprentices SURE has recruited three mature apprentices into the RACHP programme and feels that this is a potential area that other companies don’t necessarily tap into. It could be a key lever in trying to reduce the skills gap in the RACHP industry. Craig added: “We know there’s an undersupply of core engineering skill coming into the industry. Our mature apprentices provide something di erent. So far, we’ve found individuals who are technically minded but, for varying reasons, couldn’t pursue a trade when leaving school. They vary in age between 27 and 41, for example, and have come from a variety of backgrounds in facilities management, shipping and plumbing. “It has been a huge success in terms of our mature apprentices hitting the ground running and making an instant contribution. They take some straightforward tasks away from our senior industrial engineers, allowing them to focus on the more technical problems. They plug a di erent gap, so to speak, and we feel it is a real source of di erentiation. They’ve added real diversity to the existing experience we have here already.” Flexible learning Craig has a particular focus on the flexibility of the learning on o er to apprentices. He said: “It’s a more modular programme that we’ve looked to set up with flexibility to obtain a broad exposure of the business. As an example, our business ops apprenticeship is adaptable, where we combine the interest of the apprentice with the needs of the business to come to a development plan.” For current apprentice Olivia Sherlock, this meant moving out of her business administration role and into digital marketing at Level 3. Craig said: “We come to a development plan with all of our apprentices that matches their interest and ambition with business needs. We’ve seen the two dovetail well and it’s a beneficial situation all round. The ambition is to build Business Operations Apprentice Olivia Sherlock is an Apprentice of the Year Candidate for Hugh Baird College Operations Director Craig Shaw heads up the apprenticeship programme at SURE Solutions SURE Solutions.indd 20 03/12/2020 11:52