Apprentices bring character, VEKA develops skills

VEKA plc is one of the UK’s leading uPVC systems companies.

We design and manufacture profile which is used to fabricate windows, doors and conservatories for homes and commercial buildings across the country.

Our Lancashire factory opened in 1986, since then we have become one of Burnley’s major employers.

Led by our company ethos, ‘We Care | We Act,’ we have a commitment to investing in the growth and development of every one of our people.

We are also committed to developing our future workforce through our apprenticeship scheme.

This year we onboarded 14 new apprentices adding to the four already in post from last year’s intake.

The apprenticeships, which are split between manufacturing and engineering aim to develop the next generation of Burnley’s fenestration industry experts.

Our industry experienced a surge in demand last January, which meant that we were faced with an unprecedented skill shortage.

After failed attempts at recruitment using traditional methods, we took a two-fold approach to attracting the right people into our business.

Taking a creative approach to the problem, we harnessed the power of ‘Blue Monday,’ and in the first week of January, we dropped leaflets to 80,000 targeted homes in the Lancashire area and mirrored this with a targeted online recruitment campaign.

The result was our workforce rising from 360 to 405 employees and all vacancies filled.

Rather than looking for the ‘perfect fit,’ our focus switched to searching for those with soft skills such as creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration.

The pandemic highlighted that access to workers and worker mobility are crucial to meeting labour demand, and skill transferability is critical.

VEKA has made many successful appointments where people possess the skills that have enabled them to switch into our industry, resulting in valuable new perspectives, supporting resilient and high performing teams.

We believe that skills can be taught, but values can’t. Attracting the right people into our business is imperative to growth.

Our commercial director, Tim Taylor was appointed from the brewery industry and in his short time with the business he has taught us invaluable skills that will put VEKA in a strong position for the challenges it will face in 2023.

Like many businesses, we’re experiencing a time of uncertainty. Our profits are being squeezed by increased raw material costs and energy prices.

In these circumstances many businesses reduce their investment into developing their people, but not us.

We understand that we need to continue to look after the people that look after the business.

It’s a key part of our long-term strategy. The last few years have shown us that the strength of our business is reliant on the people who run it, and we want to keep them going and growing.

OUR COMMITMENT TO OUR TEAM

• Individual development plans for everyone in 2023
• At least five days of training per year for every employee
• We’re working with Oliver Wright to improve operational efficiency and develop employees’ expertise
• We have committed to support Building our Skills
• We are a founder of Girls with Goals
• We support Primary Engineer Programmes, giving children their first glimpse of engineering

OPPORTUNITIES TO ADVANCE

Jack Scullion began his journey with us in 2011 as a lamination operator.

He took every opportunity he could to enhance his skillset and whilst we were working on unveiling a host of new products, Jack applied for a role in our technical department where he completed a HND in Engineering.

Soon after he was promoted to product engineer and after working closely with our former head of product, and completing the ‘Leading the VEKA Way’ course, he successfully was appointed the role of product manager.

veka.com