Investing in the future of signage – our apprenticeship programme
At Blaze Signs, we have a highly successful apprenticeship programme that’s been running for many years.
During the company’s history, we’ve invested significantly in apprentices as we believe they’re vital to our business’s growth and future success.
Why run an apprenticeship programme?
An apprenticeship programme is a great way to give young people the essential skills they need to forge ahead on their career path. By giving them guidance and qualifications, we’re creating the future leaders of our business.
At Blaze Signs, we have apprentices working in both our office and factory sectors. As a company, it’s a great opportunity to showcase how we operate and how we invest in our employees.
The history of our apprenticeship scheme
Blaze Signs first apprentice was taken on in 1996. Approximately 60 people have taken part in our apprenticeship programme since that time.
In fact, 20% of the team today started through the apprenticeship programme.
Typically our apprenticeships take two years with full training and support continuing on after their apprenticeship.
We work in conjunction with educational establishments
Blaze Signs has over 150 highly skilled manufacturing staff working across two factories. We can create everything from hand-fabricated individual letters and sheet metal fascia signs in high volume or as a bespoke project, working with a variety of lighting options including LEDs .Much of our process utilises our state of the art resource such as Lasers and water-jet but complimented with hand crafted elements just as they were 40 years ago.
This gives us an excellent environment for taking on apprentices and offering them exciting opportunities to learn new skills. Investing in the future of our workforce is essential, and that’s why we operate a joint training apprenticeship scheme with East Kent College.
Peter Senior of East Kent College commented: “Blaze Signs has shown they’re a dedicated employer and have embraced the ethos of what an apprenticeship is, and they employ a number of our young, local apprentices each year.”
Where are apprentices placed?
We asked our Apprentice Governor to explain how the scheme works.
“Since taking on the role of Apprentice Governor at Blaze some four years ago, I’ve aimed to create ten apprentice places a year. At present, we have seven – that’s five from 2019 and two from 2018. Since 2017, we’ve recruited 24 apprentices.”
“The majority of our apprenticeships are in sign making or design through the new apprenticeship standard, which we helped to implement (L2or3 NVQ in Sign Making and Installation). Plus, we’ve had one apprentice in the Production Office and two in Estimating, all of whom completed their L3 NVQ Business Administration apprenticeship. I’m pleased to say that, in my time, every apprentice that has completed their apprenticeship at Blaze has been offered a full-time appointment.”
Apprentices past and present
An example we are proud of in recent years is that of Bradley Cooper. Bradley started his apprenticeship in 2012 in the design department, then moved to digital print providing a full knowledge of the production processes and is now a valuable member of the project managing team for one of our biggest clients.
Would you like to find out more about Blaze Signs?
Our dedicated team can turn your ideas into the perfect signage, using the best materials and the right type of illumination to enhance your property.
To find out more, call us on 01843 601 075 or email: info@blazesigns.co.uk
