President visits our Building Futures apprentices

02 Jul 2018

Nancy hears how a new apprenticeship for existing staff is making a difference at work and at home

President and Vice-Chancellor Nancy Rothwell met a group of colleagues who have enrolled upon our new University development programme Building Futures.

Building Futures was created with our £1.9 million Apprenticeship Levy, part of a government initiative to create an additional 3 million apprenticeships in England by 2020.

Nancy also met some of our young ‘traditional’ technical apprentices some of whom are working in the president’s own research lab, in the beautiful, sunlit grounds of our Chancellors Hotel in Fallowfield.

Building Futures currently supports 53 colleagues both professionally and personally by equipping them with additional skills in areas such as IT and business management.

This not only gives them the confidence to progress further at work, it also helps them at home. For example, they can manage domestic finances or appointments online or help their children with their homework as education becomes increasingly digitised.

Supervisor Rebecca Campbell, who has worked for the University for nine years, explained: “The apprenticeship is split between theory and practical work, from how to manage a team to a project where you run your own restaurant and look at all angles of the business. This for me was really interesting.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to fit in with work and having two kids under the age of five, but my Building Futures support was strong and understanding. Most of the time, I do my apprenticeship work over the weekend when the kids are out.

“I do enjoy it – I say this with a smile on my face – it has helped me understand problem solving, be more knowledgeable about catering and have the confidence to move forward in my career. In future I would like to move toward events and progress in that line of work.”

Assistant Director of HR Steve Grant explained: “Some of the colleagues engaged with Building Futures are returning to learning after a lengthy gap. The programme enables us to ensure that colleagues in a broad range of roles have access to development opportunities to support progression at their own pace. The current cohort is on a range of study programmes including Catering, Human Resources and Project Management.

“We employ people from communities across Manchester and beyond and there is synergy with our civic responsibility to contribute to individuals, families, communities and the Greater Manchester regional economy.”

Nancy agreed: “I very much enjoyed meeting our apprentices, they were good company with a lot to tell me, and it was great to hear what an impact this programme is having on them, both professionally and personally.

“We know from our Staff Survey that our staff are proud to work here and, in turn, we value them. Building Futures fully demonstrates that.”