Engineering futures with special apprentice away day

Enthusiastic apprentices from a Birmingham-headquartered engineering firm have swapped the workshop for the countryside on a special away day in Tewkesbury.

And with the opportunity to further bond and learn vital teamworking skills, the 19 apprentices were eager to impress as they stepped out for the one-day training event held at Croft Farm Park in Gloucestershire.

Multi-disciplinary engineering firm adi Group, based in Kings Norton, regularly invests in fuelling the engineering pipeline, by both self-funding and delivering two concurrent apprenticeship programmes.

And with one eye on delivering an all-rounded experience for its apprentices, the firm decided to embark on a special training day, where the youngsters got to grips with a series of tasks designed to help improve their communication, teamwork, time management and problem-solving abilities.

“It’s imperative that we not only take our apprentices out of their normal working environment, but also invest in skills development that helps build their experiences,” said adi Group strategic account director James Sopwith.

“At adi we have a laser sharp focus on delivering a sustainable platform for young people.”

“These are individuals at a vital stage in their lives, individuals who will potentially be the ones helping to engineer a bright future for us all, so it’s been really rewarding to see the commitment of our apprentices over the course of this away day.

“We’re really proud of both our pre-apprenticeship and apprentice programmes, which have already paid dividends in terms of strengthening and diversifying our full-time workforce.”

The special training day, held in conjunction with adi’s partner Quest, kickstarted with a series of team presentations, from which the group of Caitlyn Kett-Davies, Raja Dubb, Shane Lambert, Wayne Hopcott and Oliver Shenton were rewarded for their team’s project which aimed to improve physical and mental health at adi.

Coinciding with one of the hottest days of the year, the eager apprentices switched gears in the afternoon, embarking on a kayaking competition, before cooling down with a well deserved swim in the location’s stunning lake.

Attention now turns to the autumn, when the apprentices will reunite for their next training adventure, which will include adi’s 2021/22 apprentice intake.

“Continuing the engineering pipeline, which feeds into a wider STEM skills gap, is incredibly important to us,” added James.

“At a time when many firms have had to restrict apprentice schemes amidst tightening pandemic budgets, we’ve been able keep that access to young people open.

“Training days such as this put into perspective the importance placed on apprentices, which make up a significant part of our workforce.”