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Morgan Sindall Property Services (MSPS) has launched its flagship Apprenticeship Academy, aimed at attracting and inspiring talented young people into a wide range of roles across the property maintenance and construction industry.
Developed by MSPS’ in-house social value team and led by Social Value Officer Luke Culling, the academy complements the company’s existing, extensive training and employment programmes.
The MSPS Apprenticeship Academy provides a structured approach to recruiting annual cohorts of apprentices during the summer months, when young people will be leaving school or college and planning the first step in their career. By forming cohorts, the apprentices will follow a shared journey into employment and benefit from peer support, as well as the support provided by MSPS and training providers through the apprenticeship programme itself.
What differentiates the MSPS Apprenticeship Academy from similar programmes, is the inclusion of a pre-employment week used to shortlist candidates for the programme.
To be inclusive and enable as many people to attend as possible, pre-employment weeks are held in different parts of the country and online.
The first pre-employment week, which took place last week and was attended by 51 young people, showcased a diverse range of career options within MSPS and the wider sector, including trades-based, commercial, customer service, communications and design roles. Prospective apprentices also undertook practical, workplace-based sessions such as team building, problem solving and logic activities, and MSPS’ social value team provided employability support including CV writing and mentoring to prepare candidates for interviews.
Speaking about the event, Culling said: “It has been fantastic to meet so many talented, inspiring and passionate people this week, all with an interest in MSPS and looking to become our newest employees. Their feedback will help shape how our Apprenticeship Academy grows and develops over the coming months and years.”
Interviews were held over two days at the end of the week, to shortlist the most promising candidates who can demonstrate they have the commitment required to complete an apprenticeship and share the company’s ethos and values. The successful candidates will start around mid-August, giving the apprentices time to enrol with colleges or training providers before beginning their formal training in September.
Speaking about the Apprenticeship Academy, Director Paul Reader, who started his career as an apprentice, said: “It’s crucial that we attract and retain a diverse range of talent across the business, and that we support people throughout their career path with us. The Academy will provide a structured route to sustainable employment for young people whilst also enabling MSPS to ‘grow its own’ workforce to help fill the sector-wide skills shortage.”
