The Apprentice

“Tackling long term unemployment”, “cutting the benefits bill”, “making work pay” – these are the big topics of debate right now amongst all of the major political parties. You can hardly pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV without these being right at the heart of the news agenda.

But sometimes it feels like we never really take the time out to celebrate the success of seeing someone taking those steps back into work – and how life changing that process can be.

Last year we launched our LEAP apprenticeship programme. Long gone are the days when managing council housing was just about bricks, mortar and rent collecting. They’re still our main business, of course, but we want to be more than that. We want to give something back and be a real player in helping our city thrive in the years to come. That’s why we set up LEAP; we wanted to give our tenants tangible skills and support to help them get back into work.

Twelve months on and more than 80 of our tenants have benefitted from LEAP in one way or another – we’ve even taken on seven of them full time. Of course the real benefit of apprenticeships is when they result in someone getting full time work. So far, 14 of those who enrolled on LEAP have now found work and we’re just about to appoint our 29th apprentice; we’re proud of that achievement.

But in the case of one apprentice in particular – just being given the chance to come to work has transformed her life and last week, I was delighted to hear that, she’s been named as an Apprentice of the Year for the West Midlands – and now has a shot at being crowned a national champion.

Michelle’s now 41 and up until twelve months ago had never worked. She left school at 16 with no qualifications and then went on to raise three kids. At the age of 40 – she got the chance to frame her very first pay packet – and she’s still beaming with pride one year on. The Michelle who walked through our doors a year ago is unrecognisable to the Michelle who went on stage last week to claim her award.

As the Chief Executive of a company, nothing fills me with more pride then when you see how much of a difference you can make by offering someone an opportunity. When the opportunity is there and they grasp it with both hands it can be truly life changing. Michelle’s testament to that.

Yes, there are people who abuse the system – but there are plenty out there who just need that chance and opportunity to build their skills and build their confidence. That’s why apprenticeships are so important and why more and more companies need to embrace them.

There are success stories out there, like Michelle and our other apprentices, and I’m proud that we’ve been able to give something back.