The latest recruits at Gra-Bern Electrical, join a long list of trainees to have been employed at the firm since the 1980’s.
Callum Shropshire, 18, of Little Dawley; Tomas Workman, 17, of Brookside and Leighton Harrington, also 17, of Jackfield, won the apprenticeship places after they impressed their bosses during a three-month trial at the Madeley-based firm.
Now they will be spending four years on their apprenticeships - combining learning in the classroom at Telford College of Arts and Technology and on-the-job training with qualified electricians.
Graham Brown, senior partner in the domestic, commercial and industrial electrical contractors said: “I am really pleased that the three young recruits are proving a success, we took on our first apprentice in 1984 and of the lads working for us now, all except one started as school leavers.
“We at Gra-Bern pride ourselves on not using agencies and we don’t take on temporary staff - we are not a hiring and firing company.
“With the problems facing the industry and the economy in general, we had a gap and have not taken on any apprentices for the last couple of years, now that things appear to be improving we decided to re-start our apprenticeship scheme.”
Graham and Bernard Bowen set up the company in 1976, hence the company name ‘Gra-Bern’. Bernard has since retired, with Mick Goodwin remaining as a partner.
Mr Brown added: “One of the things that is really important to us when we recruit staff, is that they are local. “We try to work within the Telford and Shropshire area, which means that we can provide a speedy and flexible response to our customers.
“The beauty of taking on apprentices is that they are trained in how we work, as well as to the industry standard; it also means that we have continuity in skills and goes a long way to protect our reputation for excellent, quality work.”
The apprentices’ progress is monitored by a training officer from JT Ltd - the principal training provider for the electrotechnical industry - through on-site visits in the workplace and during classroom-based learning at Telford College of Arts and Technology (TCAT).
Mr Brown added: “It is really demanding being an apprentice but it means that at the end of the four years they have gained valuable skills to be able to work safely and correctly on site. “These young people are the future of our business and we are great believers in the apprenticeship scheme. “It is good to see that our new apprentices are settling in well and we are pleased that they are playing an important part in the business.”
Tomas, who went to the Lord Silkin School in Stirchley, said: “I am loving the work and the chance to gain experience in the workplace. I am really enjoying being here.”
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