The BiS Henderson Academy is to establish two training centres in the heart of the logistics industry’s Golden Triangle to offer traineeship courses for young people in preparation for apprenticeships in the logistics sector.
Located in Wellingborough and Northampton, they will be the first phase of a network of BiS Henderson Academy training centres to be set up in the 50 top logistics ‘hot spots’ across the country. The training centres will be used to reach out to young people and promote the career opportunities offered by the 6,500 companies that represent 80% of logistics job opportunities in the UK.
Opening this summer, the centres will run ten Gateway to Logistics (G2L) courses throughout the year for 15–20 young people at a time, providing the basic skills required by employers prior to starting either a logistics traineeship or an apprenticeship – ‘getting people ready for work’. The next step will be to place them into apprenticeships that have been designed to meet the needs of employers and the future career ambitions of candidates.
The BiS Henderson Academy is working with some of the country’s largest employers of logistics personnel to design apprenticeship courses that are suited to each individual company’s future requirements. In addition, the Academy is actively engaged in promoting the sector to schools, colleges and local job centres, to encourage young people into the industry through a logistics apprenticeship.
“We require about 10% of school leavers to seek a career in logistics,” comments managing director Paul Brooks. “Currently just 4.3% of roles in our industry are based upon an apprenticeship against an all-sector average of 8.8% – the average for the three other leading sector employers is 10%. So we are lagging substantially behind and need to encourage many more young people to consider the exciting opportunities presented by our sector.”
“At the Bis Henderson Academy we are in the process of setting up new career programmes through working with employers, trade bodies and government departments. We are engaged with partner organisations to create a range of bespoke programmes around talent development, degrees and higher level apprenticeships. Our aim is to help employers develop their talent pools, build programmes that fulfil the needs of the industry and inspire young people to engage with our sector.”
