Companies back apprenticeships

MANCHESTER Cabins Ltd, one of Oldham’s foremost manufacturing businesses, has broken a long-standing habit by taking on some apprentices.

Managing director Frank Rothwell, dismayed by his experiences with youngsters, had vowed to build his company with experience.

But then he heard Oldham Council leader Jim McMahon and businessman Norman Stoller speak - at the One Oldham Business Awards earlier this year - about the Get Oldham Working campaign. And his thinking changed.

Frank has now taken on three apprentices: Lewis Wood (16), from Shaw, Jake Pendlebury (17), from Failsworth, and Andrew Wreghitt (19), from Ashton.

Director Luke Rothwell said: “For more than 10 years we haven’t employed a young person because of the overburdening responsibility placed on us as an employer.

“But when Councillor McMahon gave his inspiring speech at the business awards, setting the town’s businesses the challenge to create 2,015 employment opportunities for young people by 2015, it really struck a chord. I filled out the pledge card and promised to consider young people for any post that became available.”

Luke said Manchester Cabins is investing heavily in the company’s hire fleet: “To achieve our targets we needed to increase the workforce. In the past we would have rung our workforce agency but this time we decided to create three apprenticeships and contacted Oldham Training Centre.

“We couldn’t have been more impressed with the quality of the potential apprentices. The image we are led to believe of young people today couldn’t have been further from the truth. They wanted to learn, had interesting hobbies and wanted to get stuck in.

“We are proud that more than 25 per cent of our workforce has worked for us for more than 20 years and hope that Andrew, Jake and Lewis will be with us for a very long time.

“Just over 10 per cent of our workforce is now young people. I’d encourage any business in the borough to contact OTC to fill any vacancy with an apprentice.”