Bright sparks follow in Rugby electrician's successful footsteps

Twenty years ago, Andy Wood served an apprenticeship as an electrician.

He loved it and the course at Warwickshire College set him on the path to running his own successful company - Hertz Electrical Contractors Ltd - which he has done for 13 years.

Andy’s 16 employees include three apprentices who are busy training up with the required knowledge and skills, not least around the installation of solar panels and other new technology which has become a significant art of the job.

Andy successfully applied to Warwickshire County Council’s Future Apprenticeships: Salary Support Programme for support, through Warwickshire Skills Hub, and received £2,000 towards each apprenticeship. It is a move with multiple benefits.

The three recruits have embarked on constructive chosen careers and are thereby helping to grow a business which in turn contributes much to its local community.

“Apprenticeships are a fantastic concept,” said Andy.

“They are learning exactly what is relevant to the trade now.

“There are now sub-industries within our industry. Twenty per cent of our business is in things that didn’t exist 20 years ago and by taking on these apprentices, we can take them through from not knowing anything in our world to knowing everything they need to know.”

Andy can vouch from first-hand experience for the value of apprenticeships as an alternative to university for school and college-leavers.

He said: “When I left school 20 years ago, apprenticeships weren’t really available because education just pushed you towards university, but that is not the right fit for everyone.

“I didn’t find classroom learning enjoyable and just didn’t get book-based teaching so university would have been a waste of four years.

“Then I started the apprenticeship and thought, ‘this is great, we are learning about something and doing it at the same time. I learned so much this way because we were not just sat there doing theory all day.

“Apprenticeships are brilliant opportunities for young people who for whatever reason did not really engage with school and college.”

Warwickshire Skills Hub has several schemes which offer support to SMEs looking to take on apprentices.

“Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub put me in touch with Louise Stolz from the Skills Hub,” Andy said.

“I didn’t realise there was so much support out there. It’s been so helpful. We could probably have taken on the apprentices without the funding but off the back of that support we have created training programmes and boards within our unit so we can simulate real-life scenarios within the safety net of our building which we didn’t have before.

“It’s been brilliant. "

Find out what support is availbale by calling Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub on 0300 060 3747 or visiting https://www.cwgrowthhub.co.uk