Apprenticeship opportunities in the spotlight at Briggs Equipment

2/2/2012 4:47 AM EST

Photo opportunity

Date: Thursday, February 9
Time: 4.00pm – 6.00pm,
Venue: Briggs Equipment, Orbital Way, Cannock, WS11 8XW
Details: Open evening for potential apprentices

Apprenticeship opportunities in the spotlight at
Briggs Equipment


Young people from across the Midlands are being invited to a special event next week that will offer them the opportunity to find out how to launch a rewarding career in engineering.

Organised as part of National Apprenticeship Week (February 6 to February 10), the open evening at the Cannock headquarters of Briggs Equipment will include a tour of the company’s facilities in Orbital Way and a workshop to help young people to write their first CV.

The company’s Operations Director, Gavin Wickham, himself a former apprentice, will be on hand to talk about Briggs’ own apprenticeship scheme that has proved extremely successful over the past few years.

“Young people are vital to the long-term future of any business and that is why we take our apprenticeship scheme so seriously,” said Gavin.

“We are also committed to providing opportunities for people in the community in which we operate and events like this can also help to raise aspirations, by giving teenagers a taste of the opportunities available to them.”

Briggs is a leading forklift service provider and sole distributor in Great Britain of Yale Europe Materials Handling products. It employs over 700 people, over half of them in its engineering team.

Last year six apprentices at the company achieved their National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) level 3 in Engineering by completing a four-year programme that includes a mix of hands-on practical work and classroom-based learning at college.

The first year of the scheme focuses on introducing students to their roles in either Briggs’ workshop or out in the field where they gain general, all-round engineering knowledge. During the second year, they are assigned practical tasks such as carrying out supervised service and maintenance work.

Apprentices are placed permanently in their specific field throughout their third and fourth years to work independently but with guidance from experienced colleagues as they develop into fully qualified engineers.

Commented Dean Mansell, Engineering Standards Manager at Briggs: “Many of our apprentices now enjoy rewarding careers in engineering and a number of them will be on hand during the evening to share their own experiences.

“We really hope this event will inspire others to follow in their footsteps,” he added.

Anyone who would like to come along or bring a group, to the event which will take place on Thursday, February 9 between 4.00pm and 6.00pm should contact Scott Bullock on 01543 437800 or email ( ).



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