Two of the latest apprentice scheme recruits for Yorkshire Water come in as company firsts as they’ll be receiving support through a degree course.

January 2015 saw Yorkshire Water announce that it would be going ahead with plans to significantly bump up the numbers of apprenticeships offered over a five year period in what is the biggest scheme of its kind ever launched by the company.

As it currently stands, most of the apprentices have been recruited in operational roles as Yorkshire Water looks to recruit the next generation of skilled colleagues forming the core of operators in the provision of crucial services to the millions of people in and around the region. The apprentices are currently studying an impressive range of college courses all across the region, including HNC Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Level 3 Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Level 3 Computer Systems, Level 5 Human Resource Management and Level 6 Surveying.

Victoria Ellwood from Wyke in Bradford and Thomas may from Huddersfield recently joined the Land Services and Valuation, and Land, Property and Planning teams as surveyors in training. Yorkshire Water will offer full support to them through a degree course at the University College of Estate Management. Victoria and Thomas will be based in Bradford, the company’s headquarters, when they’re not hard at work in the field with experienced colleagues.

The process of how Yorkshire Water manages its assets will be a subject the apprentices will naturally benefit out of learning, while helping to support and facilitate the acquisition of property and land or rights, effective management of all these interests and the disposal of those interests which are no longer needed by the business.

Shauna Purdey, Director of Human Resources at Yorkshire Water, said; “We’re delighted to have Thomas and Victoria join us on this exciting new adventure which illustrates how we are supporting apprentices at all levels. Our graduate scheme, apprenticeships and trainee positions offer young people the chance to study for a qualification whilst gaining practical experience.”

“Yorkshire Water has recently become the first water company to receive the prestigious National Equality Standard (NES) certification, which recognises good practise in the area of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). We have a passion and commitment to EDI and our efforts towards creating a more diverse workforce and an inclusive culture have been significantly accelerated over recent years. A number of initiatives, including the number and levels of apprentices, have been put in place to ensure that we attract talent from the widest pool possible and we are very proud to launch our first degree apprenticeships.”

Victoria said; “I’m delighted to start my apprenticeship with Yorkshire Water as it means I can earn a salary whilst getting a qualification in my chosen field. There are many different options for young people leaving school or college these days and this was the best one for me.”

Contrastingly, Thomas applied for the apprenticeship only after his decision to change careers, a clear demonstration of the fact that apprenticeships are just as appealing to mature students who already have work experience.

Shauna added, “Competition for places is very high and the calibre of successful applicants means they often go on to attain senior roles within the company. Opportunities come up throughout the year so we’d advise anyone interested to register their interest in working for us on the careers page of our website.”