B&FC for Business attends AutoRaise and The Vella Group events to offer apprenticeships

The promotional events, held at The Vella Group’s Workington, Preston and Chester sites, were also attended by local young people, repairers and industry suppliers. The combined events identified eight potential new candidates sign up for the apprenticeship.

Helen Driscoll, HR manager at The Vella Group said: “The show case events were a resounding success. The support from AutoRaise and B&FC, along with the industry partners, meant that the events went even better than we hoped. Despite us holding them the week after the local schools finished, and with quite short notice, AutoRaise and B&FC worked really hard to ensure that where was plenty of positive interest on the nights.

“We would like to say a special thank you to those who came along to support us at the events, with people traveling hundreds of miles to back the showcase evenings. We were thrilled fellow local repairers also gave up their time to come along to find out about the apprentice schemes.

B&FC’s partnership with The Vella Group will fill the first ever class of AutoRaise Multi-skilled Apprentices at the College, with subsequent cohorts from other employers in the region.

“Our automotive team has a huge amount of experience working in different roles throughout the sector and understand the skills required by people entering the industry, or for those who wish to further progress their careers.

As well as recruiting potential apprentices, the events saw a number of other companies within the industry attending. AutoRaise Platinum Partners UPOL, S & G Response, R-M, Devilbiss and Audatex had stands alongside The Vella Group supplier partners Stanners, Pro-align, PPG and LKQ Coatings. These allowed visiting young people to learn more about the products and processes involved in repairing vehicles.

“The Vella Group were looking to take on two apprentices at each of their sites and now they have a fantastic problem; at least three of the young visitors at each event have already shown an active desire in wanting to take the offered positions.

“I was especially pleased that a number of other repairers in the region came along too and the College had an opportunity to talk to them about helping them find apprentices. “I would have loved to see even more but no matter which way you look at it, these events were a fantastic success on so many different levels.”