UK
National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) is a key national event that highlights the importance and relevance of apprenticeships and Christyens UK has been giving the initiative enthusiastic support for more than a decade. The Bradford laundry chemicals solutions provider has been running its own apprenticeship scheme since 2012, and this is now very much a part of the company’s overall strategy and development.
Christeyns UK has two apprentices based at its Bradford site, Shay Bates, data analyst apprentice and Daniel Woodall, maintenance and operations engineering technician apprentice.
Bates joined the firm in September 2024 on a 2-year apprenticeship working alongside the IT department and studying towards a Level 4 NVQ qualification in data analysis. He excels in Power BI and has made excellent progress. His first major project involved developing a purchasing dashboard, which has provided valuable insights and improved data visibility.
Woodall also joined in 2024. He is working alongside the maintenance team on a 4-year apprenticeship studying towards achieving a Level 3 NVQ qualification in maintenance and operations engineering.
As part of this apprenticeship, he has passed several work-related courses to enable him to develop further in his role and have more involvement in on-site projects. He has also been involved in some larger scale lighting projects becoming more familiar with the planned preventative maintenance schedule to keep the assets around site working efficiently.
Christeyns supports all its apprentices with any further training they may require in addition to their apprenticeship qualification, providing allocated time throughout the week for studying, outside of college hours. Each apprentice is assigned a mentor to help support them throughout the duration of their apprenticeship and there is also support from other apprentices at the firm.
Throughout the year, Christeyns team members including apprentices, attend events at schools and colleges to make other young people aware of the opportunities open to them, getting involved in workshops, careers fairs, in-school talks and CV workshops.
Providing young people with the right skills and opportunities is vital for the future prosperity of both Christeyns and the industry, and the company views its apprenticeship scheme as a crucial part of the recruitment strategy. Christeyns’ goal is to offer permanent roles to all apprentices who go through their scheme.
“Our apprenticeship scheme is key for succession planning, identifying and growing talent to fill leadership and business-critical positions in the future. This helps to keep the business at the top of its game,” said HR manager Sarah Stringer.
