Amey welcomes new apprentices to highways service

14 September 2015

Amey has welcomed its latest group of apprentices to start their new roles delivering highways maintenance services on behalf of Hampshire County Council.

The five new recruits join Amey's apprenticeship programme, which runs for 24 months, and gives the apprentices a variety of learning experiences - both on-the-job and also in a classroom-based environment.

Four of the apprentices will be working on the roads where they will learn a variety of new skills including major carriageway resurfacing, repairing potholes, laying kerbs and fixing drainage. Each will complete a job-specific NVQ Level 2 Diploma in Highways Maintenance at Highbury College.

One apprentice joins the arboricultural team where he will gain experience of tree maintenance, including hedge cutting, and will enroll on a NVQ Level 2 Diploma in Trees and Timber at Sparsholt College.

David Ogden, Amey's Account Director in Hampshire, said: "We are committed to helping young people develop their careers and our apprenticeship programme allows us to continually invest in the future generation. Delivering these opportunities is beneficial for people in our local community, and I’m always pleased to welcome new apprentices to Amey. I wish all of our apprentices the best as they progress through their apprenticeship, and I look forward to seeing them flourish and develop over the next two years.”

All five will achieve their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. The Award helps to further develop skills, such as teamwork, communication and leadership, which the apprentices can utilise both at work and at home. They will also have opportunities to carry out additional training sessions at local colleges and work alongside dedicated mentors who can share their wealth of industry experience.

Councillor Seán Woodward, Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment at Hampshire County Council, said: “I was very pleased to meet Amey’s new apprentices who will be working on Hampshire’s roads, developing their skills while working towards industry standard qualifications and I wish them all the best at the start of their careers.”

Amey was recognised in the prestigious Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list, announced at the National Apprenticeship Awards last year. Over the next four years, Amey has committed to recruiting 1,000 apprentices onto its apprenticeship programme across the UK.