MORE than 200 apprentices are currently able to keep up with their training, thanks to a leading North East provider.
Penshaw View Training, based at The Beam, Sunderland runs apprenticeships across the country in a whole range of industries, covering everything from IT to health and safety, customer service and management.
And despite the challenges created by the current Covid-19 crisis, the company has ensured that all of their trainees are keeping up to date with their skills – along with also enrolling new apprentices.
Kay Coull, client relationship manager at Penshaw View, said the company quickly put working practices in place to ensure they could “keep the apprentices engaged” while not in the workplace.
“It was very important for us to keep in touch with our apprentices, offer them support and set up ways for them to be able to carry on with their planned learning,” she said.
“Our trainers have been absolutely fantastic, running virtual sessions with the apprentices and keeping them completely motivated and working so they will be ready when they can go back.”
The virtual sessions are also giving the company the chance to continue with classroom delivery for the unemployed candidates they work with. Online proctored examination, has enabled the apprentices to complete examinations and end point assessment.
The company works with apprentices aged from 16 upwards, which include employees who want to up their skill level as part of their continued personal development.
At the same Penshaw View is also still operating its health and safety side of the business, which provides companies with solutions, training and information to ensure that they are legally compliant.
“We are staying in touch with our clients and offering them a range of services, which again we put in place very quickly,” said Kay.
“We are offering them a free Covid-19 risk assessment and are helping them with any of the necessary policies that they need support with.
“It’s about us continuing to offer our services and being able to this in a virtual environment which seems to be working very well.”
Sharon Appleby, Head of Business Operations at Sunderland BID said Penshaw View Training was another example of a Sunderland company “which is doing it’s best to operate in difficult circumstances.”
“It is fantastic that the company has been able to diversify and operate in this way, working with its hundreds of apprentices to keep them on track, while also being able to support its health and safety clients,” she said.