Proud To Be Shortlisted for Apprenticeship Awards
Andrew Bradley, Managing Director, shares his pride in the firm being shortlisted at the Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards in the ‘Small Business’ category:
“We are delighted to be in the running for an award at the forthcoming Apprenticeship Awards on 16th November 2017 at the West Midlands Safari Park in the ‘Small Business’ category. The nomination came as a pleasant surprise to us and comes at the end of a successful year where we’ve expanded into a new office in Bromsgrove and recruited a senior hire in Julian Wintle to head our Litigation and Dispute Resolution Team.
The awards, which are being organised by Worcestershire Apprenticeships, recognise the contribution of small businesses in creating opportunities for training local young people. Changes in the law have meant that all young people must be in either education or training until the age of 18, and the opportunity of a good quality Apprenticeship provides a credible choice to those who would prefer to earn as they learn.
The firm currently has apprentices in a variety of roles across the business including two members of staff who are completing Business Administration Apprenticeships; three members of staff who are completing Level 3 Legal Apprenticeships, with a view to training as Legal Executives; and one member of staff who has completed an Accountancy Apprenticeship and who is continuing with her studies to train as a chartered Accountant. Previously the firm has employed apprentices in an IT role and former apprentices have gone on to work for recognised local firms.
The firm also has two trainee solicitors who are both in their second year who work in the commercial and litigation departments, one trainee who is in their first year in the property team and two further trainees due to start in property and family practice in January 2018.
We are strongly committed to Apprenticeships as a business as we have seen first-hand the benefits of colleagues learning the theory and then immediately putting it into place at work. We have had a very positive experience using this method of employing and training our employees (see our previous post here). We would encourage other businesses to consider this route as a way of giving young people in our county opportunities.
When we started the business, we wanted to provide legal services differently. This approach enables us to keep talent local, which fits with our mission of being a Worcestershire-focused firm.”