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The last couple of years have seen a tremendous surge in the number of apprenticeships offered in the UK, as a way of not only filling skills gaps, but doing so in a cost-effective way.

This event is for anyone who is considering hiring an apprentice and will give an overview of the apprenticeship landscape across Cheshire and an update of the Apprenticeship reforms to date.

Our speakers include Sandy Lindsay MBE, Chair and Director of The Juice Academy - a multi award-winning digital marketing apprenticeship business, which has since created almost 350 jobs for young people; Kim Hardman, UK Apprentice Programme Manager at Astra Zeneca; Andy Gray, Training & Contracts Manager at Proseal UK and Tracy Cosgrave, Director of Employer Enterprise and Commercial Services at Macclesfield College. Each will share first hand insights into why hiring an apprentice can be one of the best investments for the future of your business and how you can use apprenticeship funding to upskill your existing workforce.

Why should you attend?

Learn more from the North West Business Leadership Team (NWBL) the success and issues with the Government's apprenticeship policy
Recognise why hiring an apprentice may be a cost-effective way to invest in the future of your business
Be aware of how to upskill your existing workforce using apprenticeship funding
Understand the funding available for training apprentices as well as what Government incentives are available to employers
Speak with employers who have successfully taken on apprentices and hear about the positive impact on their business

What will you take away from the event?

An understanding of the skills challenges in Cheshire
A comprehensive understanding of the Apprenticeship Levy tax the employer digital account service.
Access to NWBL report on the Government's apprenticeship policy
Knowledge and practical advice on how to recruit an apprentice
An understanding of why employers are turning to apprenticeships to plug their skills gap
First-hand view of what it's like to be an apprentice Knowledge and practical advice on how recruit an apprentice

Key details

Date & time: 23 Apr 2020 08:30 - 11:00

Location: Online webinar, Online

CPD Hours:

Prices from

0.00 GBP + VAT - Member

15.00 GBP + VAT - Non-Member

Event manager:
Miss Lauren Mullan

Contact phone:
0161 806 0890

Contact email:
Lauren.Mullan@iod.com

Agenda

08:30 Registration, breakfast and networking

09:00 Opening Welcome from Julian Cobley IoD Cheshire Ambassador and Partnership Director – North West, ENGIE UK

09:05 Sandra Lindsay MBE, Chair and Founder of Tangerine PR & The Juice Academy, Non-Executive Director of The Rugby Football League, IoD North West Regional Ambassador and Board Member of The North West Business Leadership Team

09:20 Kim Hardman, UK Apprentice Programme Manager at Astra Zeneca

09:40 Andy Gray, Training & Contracts Manager at Proseal UK

09:55 Apprentice TBC

10:05 Panel session with Q&A – also including Tracy Cosgrave, Director of Employer Enterprise and Commercial Services at Macclesfield College

10:30 Networking with light refreshments

11:00 Event closes

Speakers

Julian Cobley
Partnership Director – North West
ENGIE UK

Julian has followed a successful career in technology, regeneration, and energy services working in both the public and private sector. As the North West Regional Partnership Director for Places and Communities at ENGIE UK, Julian is working with Local Authorities to take a place-based approach to deliver zero carbon.

Sandra Lindsay MBE
Chair and Founder
Tangerine PR & The Juice Academy

Sandy Lindsay was awarded an MBE in 2015 for services to business and young people, and, in the same, year, named Institute of Director’s Director of the Year. She founded Tangerine in 2002, grew it to 60+ consultants, promoting some of the world’s largest brands, and then fulfilled a 15 year old promise in 2017 by placing it into Employee Ownership. In 2012, she launched The Juice Academy, a multi award-winning digital marketing apprenticeship, which has since created almost 350 jobs for young people and she is a non-exec director of the Rugby Football League, Northcoders and Flock and Trustee/council member of several charities.

Kim Hardman
UK Apprentice Programme Manager
Astra Zeneca

Kim started as UK Apprentice Programme Manager in October 2018, a new role in the business created to drive quality and consistency of AstraZeneca’s Apprentice programmes. Her priorities have been to ensure that all AstraZeneca Apprentices join a great programme which provides a varied experience with dedicated learning, both in the Apprentice’s day to day roles and with their education providers.

Kim has worked for AstraZeneca for 17 years in various HR roles supporting the business. Starting in Learning & Development supporting Leadership Development programmes for high potential talent, she then moved into Talent Management, Business Partnering and Recruitment. Prior to moving into her current role, Kim led Early Talent Global Recruitment, ensuring that we brought in the best Apprentices, Graduates and Post Docs into AstraZeneca.

Andy Gray
Training & Contracts Manager
Proseal UK

I began my engineering career as an Apprentice electrician in the National Coal Board back in 1980. I moved on to work in several mines in the UK before moving to South Africa and spending 9 years in the coal mines over there. A fantastic experience both engineering and culture wise. When I returned to the UK in 1997 I found a few contract jobs before settling into a position at Packaging Automation. In 2001 I started working with Proseal as an electrician, wiring the machines while producing the circuit diagrams. I progressed to electrical manager and then took on the role of Service manager in 2005. From myself and 1 service engineer I built up the section over the next 10 years to have 15 full time Service Engineers and 4 support staff. In 2015 I took over the Training Department with a view to providing a balanced regular training schedule and to facilitate the introduction of new apprentices to the business in larger numbers. In 2016 we opened the bespoke Training Centre where we can train up to 10 apprentices at any one time in basic skills while still facilitating both customer and internal training support. This centre has allowed us to provide 38 Apprentices to the business over the last 4 years with a progression to key roles in several departments.

I have also for the last 6 or 7 years been working on the HR side of the business until the takeover by JBT when we employed a full time HR manager allowing me to once again fully concentrate on the training of apprentices, customers and Proseal employees.

Tracy Cosgrave
Director of Employer Enterprise and Commercial Services
Macclesfield College

A hard-working and highly experienced professional with a clear passion for training and excellence in the workplace, Tracy spent 12 years working in industry across a number of different HR & Recruitment roles, before moving into the world of Further Education as Course Co-ordinator for Salford City College. Her commitment to the task and unerring attention to detail saw her quickly progress to become Delivery Manager for Work-based Learning - a role she fulfilled with distinction until 2012, when she moved down to Northamptonshire after being appointed Director of one of the region's leading apprenticeship providers.

In September 2015, Manchester-born Tracy returned north to take up the position of Director of Employer Enterprise and Commercial Services at Macclesfield College. As part of this demanding role, Tracy is responsible for developing and driving the College's award-winning apprenticeships provision. In her four years to date at Macclesfield, Tracy has played a central role in increasing the College's apprenticeship income by over 400%, whilst ensuring that high quality training is consistently delivered to all learners.