AFS Haulage: apprenticeship grants attract new blood'
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AFS HAULAGE says a local authority apprenticeship grant scheme has helped to bring new blood into the industry.
The Easticigh, Hants-based Palletways member was able to take on two apprentices after Hampshire County Council started providing grants to fund equipment and mentoring last year.
The company received £2,000 per apprentice to pay for equipment and tools, plus another £2,000 each for mentoring costs.
AFS says previous efforts to employ traffic operator staff had failed and so it decided to look into hiring apprentices instead.
Peter Carney, compliance manager at AFS. says the firm was so impressed with two of the applicants, it took them both on and says the business would definitely look to recuit more apprentices in the future.
"The transport industry is possibly quite a daunting environment to come into at 18 or 19. We emphasised getting the right character for the job," he says.
-The grant is a sweetener because of the margins in the transport industry. It means we can put their pay up. Even if the grant wasn't available, we would go down the apprenticeship route again. We definitely need new blood in the industry."
Hampshire County Council says it was inundated with applications for grants and it topped up the scheme with £50,000 from other budgets in order to fund more apprenticeships.
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