A company in Birmingham has announced plans to create nearly 100 pre-apprenticeships for 14- to 16-year-olds by 2020.

ADI Group, an engineering firm which set up what is believed to be the first pre-apprenticeship scheme in the country last year, says that pre-apprenticeships have the potential to “reduce the skills shortage for hundreds of businesses”, and has drawn up a guide for businesses to create “a network of like-minded businesses interacting with their local schools”.

In September 2016 the company’s first cohort of 12 pre-apprentices started their course. Students spend half a day every week in the workplace, and are supported by lessons in school that reinforce the skills that they have learned. 

‘Shaping the future’

Alan Lusty, chief executive of ADI Group, said: “It’s a well-known fact that our country is struggling to fill the nationwide skills shortage, and we recognise that apprenticeships are a vital avenue for businesses to consider.

“With a recent CBI survey revealing that employers are growing increasingly concerned about not being able to find enough highly-skilled staff, we hope that our innovative scheme will find its way into more businesses. We look forward to seeing where these conversations will take us, and how we can help shape the future of the nation’s skills shortage together.”

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