Emplas has continued investment in its long-term future with the recruitment of 10 apprentices to its sales and marketing, IT and customer service functions, plus retail arm T&K Home Improvements. According to Government figures 625,000 16-24 year-olds were registered as unemployed at the end of last year. At the same time, the UK faces a significant skills-gap, a problem particularly acute in construction and associated sectors. Tina Robinson, HR Manager, Emplas, said that apprentices were critical to Emplas recruitment strategy, supporting sustainable growth.
“Emplas has an exceptional team. We really do have some very, very good people on board but as with any organisation, we need to make sure that we manage growth and as well as having the right systems and processes in place, we need the right people.
“Recruitment into the window and door industry isn’t always easy, it’s comparatively niche and while we are also bringing in experienced personnel, we have also recruited to nine apprentice roles, with a 10th to be filled shortly.
“It’s about delivering training now and developing a team, which will support our future growth and deliver exceptional service and support to our customers.”
Delivered in partnership with three different training providers, Evolve, Intec, and Moulton College, each apprentice completes a one-year long series of modules to complete an NVQ qualification. These all share a combination of on-the-job learning, mentorship, one-to-one training, day release and assessment.
One of two Sales and Marketing apprentices to join the G-Award winning marketing department in 2016, Tom Chantrell, Sales and Marketing Apprentice is currently working towards an NVQ Level 2 in business administration.
He said: “Working alongside, graphic designers, web developers, sales managers on a day-to-day basis has really accelerated my understanding of business in general and the window industry specifically.
“It’s also been good applying learning from modules to what I’m doing in the office.”
Tom also sits within a team supporting EVA the Emplas Virtual Assistant launched by Emplas in March 2015. It’s formed around a simple dashboard, which provides access to suite of sales and support tools.
These include options for a ‘New Website’, Quotation Software, e-marketing, call tracking, ‘My Personal Assistant’, ‘Which’, SEO, T&Cs and DGCOS membership. Each lead generation and support activity is underwritten by examples of what the activity has delivered for T&K – Emplas’ own retail business.
For more information visit www.emplas.co.uk , email [email protected] or call 01933 674880.
