06 Mar Essex & Suffolk Water is giving staff a chance to develop
Nearly 50 employees at Essex & Suffolk Water are undertaking apprenticeship programmes to help further their careers.
Once considered an option solely for people under 25, apprenticeships are increasingly used for people of all ages looking to expand their skills or re-train.
Essex & Suffolk Water is giving people, including some who already have decades of workplace experience, a chance to continue their professional development by using apprenticeship programmes that allow them to continue working alongside their studies.
Currently, 26 Essex & Suffolk Water employees are undertaking Level 3 Apprenticeships relating to Water Engineering, with others taking apprenticeship programmes in subjects as wide ranging as Customer Service, Business Administration and Team Leading.
Essex & Suffolk Water is part of the Northumbrian Water Group, which currently has more than 200 employees in total taking part in apprenticeship programmes.
Production Operator Aron Potter is working towards a Level 3 Diploma in Water Engineering – Water Supply as a route into a career change within the company. After nine years working in litigation, he obtained a permanent role in the Water Supply team and has embarked on his Apprenticeship programme within that position.
He said: “Taking on an Apprenticeship programme has been a fantastic way to get into what is effectively my second career with Northumbrian Water. The tutors come into our sites to see us and I’ve been moving around different parts of the business, learning about the different types of water extraction, from reservoirs to rivers and bore holes, and how we then treat and deliver that water to our customers at the highest possible standards, all while expanding my theoretical knowledge.”
