We believe that apprenticeships provide great career development opportunities, combining hands-on training with vocational learning. In National Apprenticeship Week, we are celebrating some of the members of our Group who have used apprenticeships to kick-start their career.  

Trainee electrician Liam Davies left school at 16 and combined a full-time college course with part-time jobs in a supermarket and sandwich shop. He says he was “buzzing” when he was offered one of our electrical apprenticeships: 

“I was ecstatic. This was a chance to work for a big company, to earn while I learned and really prove myself,” he remembers. 

Liam successfully progressed on his apprenticeship, combining practical learning in the College workshops with on-the-job training. 

“An apprenticeship is completely different to anything else I’d experienced. I think you grow up quickly. Some of my friends were still in school and college, while I was in the workplace, alongside people aged 18-65. I learned to communicate with colleagues and customers and to treat everyone with respect. I had responsibilities; a lot was expected of me,” he says. 

“With an apprenticeship, you’re learning all the time, not just in the classroom. I gained the technical skills in college but learned how to apply them in a domestic setting, alongside some incredibly experienced electricians. They have been really great teachers and feel like my second family.” 

Liam has now successfully completed his apprenticeship and become a trainee electrician, with a learning and development plan including City & Guilds 2391 Inspection and Testing. He’s helping to look after 19,000 Homes Plus properties in Staffordshire and Shropshire:  

“At the end of the day, I want to do a good job and be the best version of myself. I’m proud that I can say I am ‘apprentice trained’. That’s a real accolade in my trade.”