Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships

Our business apprenticeship scheme (“BAS”) is open for new intakes during July and August each year. This is a highly structured programme culminating with the award of a City & Guilds Certificate. It also provides a full time job within our business on completion of the course. The programme consists of 4 days per week in our workshops, learning practical skills, supplemented by 1 day per week classroom based learning at a local college. This year, 2010, we will be adding to the course to include computer-aided drawing.

Alongside our BAS, throughout 2010, in a unique partnership between The Waterman Railway Heritage Trust, North West Development Agency, Cheshire East, Job Centre Plus and The Future Job Funds, we are running a one year scheme that gives participants a solid grounding in basic engineering skills. The apprentices’ wages and the college based training costs are paid by the Future Jobs Fund and NWDA. The work based training cost is paid by the Waterman Railway Heritage Trust as are all related materials and equipment costs.

This scheme is also supported by other local businesses including Carillion and Direct Railway Services (DRS). The fundamental purpose of this scheme is to take young, local, long-term unemployed people and equip them with a broad range of basic engineering skills and a recognised qualification that will improve their job prospects. The scheme has been hugely successful and among the many reasons for this is the total commitment of the key stakeholders and the passion and hard work of the trainers and the apprentices. We genuinely believe that this scheme has helped this group of young people to turn their lives around. On completion of it, they will be far better equipped to take on the challenge of competing for jobs in the marketplace.

We expect to run this scheme again in 2011 and full details of the qualifying criteria how to apply with be posted on this website, so keep checking in!

Trainee Scheme