SLC Celebrates National Apprenticeship Week
Gillian Brydie, SLC Executive Director of People, shares how SLC is helping apprentices develop #SkillsForLife.
Employer Tuesday
This week is National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) and a great opportunity to shine a light on the valuable role that apprentices play here at SLC.
The theme of the week is #SkillsForLife and I am proud that we are supporting apprentices to develop transferrable skills that will enable them to enjoy successful careers in our organisation.
When I joined as Executive Director of People last year, I was immediately impressed at how embedded apprenticeships are in our Emerging Talent Programme. I am a strong believer in supporting our colleagues to develop their skills and knowledge. It’s evident how much we value our apprentices at SLC and the huge breadth of talent and ideas they bring to our organisation, as well as a passion and willingness to learn.
We currently have over 60 apprentices working across all areas of the business, including Operations, Technology and People. And this week I had the opportunity to meet some of them at a special NAW celebration held in our Darlington office (and virtually for those who couldn’t join in person). I thoroughly enjoyed the event, and it was fascinating to hear about the apprentices’ different career journeys and experiences at SLC.
For example, we welcomed a cohort to our Operations team last summer and their enthusiasm, not only for working at SLC, but also for their studies at Darlington College, really shone through in our conversations. I also met existing colleagues who spoke about applying to the programme as a route to upskill. This is a really important opportunity that we offer, and it was encouraging to hear how being an apprentice is benefitting not only the colleagues, but also our business as well.
In a few weeks we will celebrate Scottish Apprenticeship Week, and we will be spotlighting our fantastic apprentices in Glasgow and Hillington, another event I am extremely looking forward to. But for now, I would like to thank all our apprentices for the hard work and energy that they bring to SLC.
Happy National Apprenticeship Week!
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