KMF apprentice takes part in Industry Apprentice Council

Organised by Engineering awarding body EAL (Excellence, Achievement & Learning Limited), the Council comprises a cross-industry group of up to 12 apprentices who will meet four times a year in London at the House of Commons, with these meetings coinciding with the All Party Parliamentary Apprenticeship Group of MP's schedule, whose Chairman, Gordon Birtwhistle MP, will act as host. The key role of the IAC is to ensure that the views of industry apprentices are listened to and understood by the policy makers in London. At the inaugural meeting, the apprentice council discussed responses to recent apprenticeship policy proposals, such as the Richards Review, and began to formulate ideas as how best to survey the views and ideas of all industry apprentices. KMF was invited to put forward an apprentice for this prestigious role, due to its commitment and success in training apprentices to the highest standards, and all of the company's third and fourth year apprentices were invited to apply for the role, with Sam being the successful candidate. "This is a great honour and a very exciting opportunity to represent the views of apprentices from across the UK," says Sam. "At our first meeting, we were in front of a group of MPs and senior business leaders who outlined what they needed from apprentices and apprenticeships. We then had our opportunity to put our views across. It was quite an experience, but I was surprised by the interest that they took in what we had to say." Some of the issues raised by Sam and his colleagues on the IAC included greater interaction between schools and industry to highlight the benefits of vocational training over further education, using the college route (information uncovered highlighted that only 7% of students knew what an apprenticeship was), funding for smaller businesses (1,000 employees or less) for apprentice training, and further support for in-house apprentice training. KMF is the only company represented on the IAC that completes 100% of its training in-house. "This is a fantastic opportunity for Sam and reflects well on the work that we are doing here at KMF to develop apprentices that have the all-round skills to succeed, both in their work and social lives" says Jenny Conlon, KMF's Training Manager. "We are certain that Sam will be a good representative for his apprentice colleagues from all over the UK and that he will make his points to the MPs and business leaders in a positive and confident manner. For KMF to be asked to provide a member of the Inaugural IAC is an honour and, when you see the names that we are associated with, it is a credit to everyone concerned in the training of our apprentices." The full list of companies represented by apprentices on this first Industry Apprentice Council are: Airbus, BAE Systems, Caunton Engineering, DAF Trucks, Ford Dealerships, Ford GB, KMF (Precision Sheet Metal), MBDA, National Grid, Nestle, Siemens, and Vauxhall.