Silver Track Apprentice Nathaniel Owusu (Second from right) together with two fellow Apprentices, (L-R) Jon Thorn (Director, NAS), Paul Head (Principal and Chief Executive, College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London) and Maxine Room, (Principal, Lewisham College) at the launch of Apprenticeships First  

Earlier this week, The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London and Lewisham College officially launched a new venture: Apprenticeships First.

Apprenticeships First is the new government funded Apprentice Training Agency, which allows the two partner colleges to directly employ apprentices, placing them with suitable host employers and delivering valuable training to them in the workplace.

The scheme works just like a recruitment agency except that Apprenticeships First matches apprentices to employers and vice versa, rather than already qualified employees.

The launch took place at Dexter House in Tower Hill with key note speaker Jon Thorn, from the National Apprenticeships Service, who said: “Apprenticeships can play a key role in revitalising our economy, not just by creating jobs but because they increase productivity and morale throughout workforces.  Apprenticeships First is a great initiative that will help a new range of local businesses offer Apprenticeships. This in turn will create the opportunity for the young people involved to launch a successful career and earn as they learn.”

Guests in attendance included representatives from job centres and local authorities, with an interest in finding suitable placements for apprentices, but also small and large companies such as Serco and Homes for Haringey.

The launch of Apprenticeships First comes as John Hayes, the new Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, recently pledged to provide the largest number of apprenticeship places in history.

Maxine Room, Principal of Lewisham College said: “Apprentices will play a key role in revitalising our economy. With unemployment set to hit 3 million, creating new apprenticeships is a great way of helping people in our local community, especially young people, back into work.

“Apprenticeships First will also help a range of local organisations, especially small businesses, offer Apprenticeship places to young people.”

Paul Head, Principal of the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London, said: “Apprenticeships allow our workforce to learn new essential skills while they earn at the same time.  Employers can be confident they have expert and well motivated staff and apprentices and their families know they have the experience and training to enjoy a rewarding and satisfying career. 

Colleges, like ourselves and Lewisham play a critical brokerage role in ensuring the success of Apprenticeships nationally.”