Halfords and Palmer Foundation launch technician recruitment drive
Halfords and the Palmer Foundation – the charity founded by previous Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer – have announced a partnership to assistance younger people from deprived backgrounds to prepare as automotive technicians.
It is hoped the move will go some way to addressing the British isles lack of capable motor experts
The new partnership is designed to increase Halfords individual recruitment push. The firm, which hopes to recruit about 100 apprentices this 12 months, employs a complete of 2,200 experts across its 600 garages.
Instruction Secretary Nadhim Zahawi mentioned: “This is a significant gain for the British isles automotive sector, not only bringing new expertise into the sector but also levelling the enjoying discipline for men and women from a much more diverse vary of backgrounds.
“As the Uk economic climate motors forward, we need talented people today in essential sectors like car, and it is great to see Halfords and the Palmer Foundation backing govt initiatives to broaden apprenticeships and plug the abilities hole.”
Beneath the agreement announced nowadays, Halfords will interview all suitable Palmer Foundation candidates and meet up with all prices about the course of a 2-12 months apprenticeship – which includes one day of higher education tuition a week – for people who are profitable.
For its element, the Palmer Basis will discover deprived younger people who might be appropriate for automotive apprenticeships by a programme of stewardship at university. As nicely as apprenticeship placement the Palmer Foundation gives on-going mentoring from leading executives in the automotive industry.
Halfords seeks to ensure that hard working college students who complete their apprenticeship will usually locate work at Halfords. Apprentices will graduate with possibly a Amount 2 or Stage 3 qualification .
Dr Andy Palmer claimed: “When I still left university at 16 with couple of skills to my identify, not quite a few folks anticipated I’d finish up top some of the most essential organizations in the vehicle marketplace. I’ve only been able to get here because of my apprenticeship, which had been some of the finest times of my daily life. A lot of of the most senior people in the automobile marketplace started out out as apprentices, which include me.
“I hope that this partnership with Halfords enables the Palmer Foundation to give the same opportunities I experienced as a youthful man or woman to lots of more youthful persons with out connections and a assistance network all over them. Who appreciates? Maybe we’ll have a long run CEO or two amongst the initially ingestion of the Palmer Apprentices.”