"In Facilities we have an aging workforce and recruiting into the type of skilled work they offer can be hard. I believe we need to train our own to access this skill set and it makes perfect sense that Apprentices and Apprenticeships are part of our workforce planning. By having our own Apprenticeship scheme we can design the Apprenticeship to our own requirements so we develop staff who have the skills we need."

Chris Tann, Associate Director of Facilities and Previous Apprentice with CRH

"I completed an Apprenticeship in Business Administration in 1999 – it was an excellent way to gain real life experience of the working environment and a really good basic grounding to starting my career. My Apprenticeship supported me to develop and understand a wide range of skills together with learning how to work and interact with all different types of people in a variety of circumstances. I learnt all about the business I was part of and at the same time, it helped me to keep my education going which gave me the confidence to eventually gain my Masters qualification in 2006."

Jennifer Smith, Acting Deputy Director of Workforce and OD and Previous Apprentice

"At the beginning it was really nerve-wracking but everyone was really nice and made me feel welcome. On my first day in the department my manager had some work lined up for me and now I do lots looking after the annual leave for most of the department and taking minutes. I really like working in the NHS and want to further my career here.
If I could offer some advice to managers thinking about taking on an apprentice, I would say to plan the apprenticeship well and have lots of work for them to do. To people considering an apprenticeship I’d say – definitely do it! You see and learn lots and get paid to train at the same time."

Georgia Hudson, Business Admin Apprentice at CRH

"I got an Apprenticeship working in the central services admin team, the safety management team and in the education centre. For me that was ideal because it gave me lots of different things to do and I got to see plenty of the hospital and learn how the different areas work together."

Sarah Taylor, Admin Assistant and Previous Apprentice with CRH