City & Guilds works with UK employers to help empower the workforce, improve quality of service and increase employee retention. In 2010-11, City & Guilds championed work-based training in every sector, helping to support the UK’s armed forces, gas workers, rail staff and healthcare professionals. In addition, City & Guilds partnered with the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) to create the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list, and raise the profile of apprenticeships across the nation.
Europe’s largest regional airline, Flybe, opened its innovative Training Academy with the support of City & Guilds.
Flybe named City & Guilds as its principal awarding organisation for vocational qualifications in 2011, and worked closely with both City & Guilds and GoSkills to ensure its staff were trained to the highest standard. In February 2011, Flybe opened its Training Academy at its Exeter International Airport site. The airline operator unveiled
a branded aeroplane featuring both the City & Guilds and GoSkills logos during a ceremony at Southampton International Airport, which was attended by Minister of State for Transport, Theresa Villiers. City & Guilds will assist Flybe in developing the Training Academy, delivering qualifications based around the customer journey, from pilot training to customer services training. Andrew Rosser, Director of Flybe
Training Academy, said: ‘Flybe relies heavily on having access to a continual supply of highly skilled workers. This is why our work with City & Guilds and GoSkills is so important. Welcoming this specially branded aircraft into our fleet is Flybe’s way of spreading the word of the many benefits to be gained from developing training schemes for employees. We hope that it will excite and encourage other companies to adopt similar initiatives.’
In the line of fire
Members of the RAF firefighting service can achieve City & Guilds qualifications that will give them a head start in the civilian job marketplace if they ever decide to leave the forces.
All RAF firefighters now have the opportunity to have their skills recognised with an apprenticeship in Aviation Operations, underpinned by City & Guilds qualifications. The qualifications are already having a positive effect on the lives of station firefighters.
Second-in-command of Brize
Norton’s firefighting unit, Flight Sergeant, Lee Goupillot, explained the impact the apprenticeship is having: ‘Getting recognised in the form of qualifications is the best thing that’s happened here in recent years. When I signed up, we got nothing. The mentality was “if we give people qualifications, they’ll leave”. But it has had the opposite effect; the guys and girls love that they’re getting qualifications for doing something that they enjoy.’ Firefighting staff praise the
apprenticeship for integrating with the current military training programme. Without interrupting the daily flow of life on the base, City & Guilds has opened up a raft of opportunities for those in the armed forces.
Supermarket scheme Since it began in June 2011, more than 4400 learners have signed up for a City & Guilds accredited apprenticeship with retail chain Asda