#NAW2014 Apprenticeship Week Ends With a Visit from Worcester MP Robin Walker at Titania's Offices

The end of the Apprenticeship Week has been marked by a visit from Worcester MP Robin Walker.  

During the visit Robin was accompanied by Derrin Kent, of TDM Wyre Academy and Helena Baxtor, the Chair of the Worcestershire Training Providers Association. They sat down with all Titania’s apprentices and the Directors to discuss apprenticeships and the positive effects it has had on the company as well as on the apprentices' careers. 

From left to right: Robin Walker MP, Max MacFarlane - software development apprentice, Luke Willmore - accounts apprentice,  Ian Whiting - Titania CEO, Edwin Bentley - software developer, Derrin Kent -  TDM Wyre Academy Managing Director

When speaking about apprenticeships and their positive impact on unemployment and the economy in the region, Robin spoke about how the number had increased from 470 apprentices in 2010 to being on track for over 1,000 this year. The MP said that, because of their success 'apprenticeships are definitely here to stay, as in politics the importance of apprenticeships is something everyone seems to get', despite party divisions on other issues. 

Aside from Edwin’s story which can be found in this article, Titania has invested in two other bright, young apprentices.

Luke Willmore, joined the company in September 2013 as a Business Apprentice, through Worcester College of Technology. Aside from being a quick learner and an ongoing support to the Accounts Team, Luke also brings new ideas to the business. His latest initiative has been implementing a new stationery process, which keeps the office supplies better organised as well as cost-effective. The 18 year old is now working towards completing his level 2 NVQ and felt that an apprenticeship would be the best way to learn the administrative aspects of a business.

Max MacFarlane comes from TDM Wyre Academy and has been an apprentice with Titania’s development team since June 2013. Max has been working on a free tool kit and he is now contributing to Titania’s established software products. 

IT has always been in Max’s chosen career path, in one way or another. He first studied it for GSCEs and A-levels. Then he followed it with a computing degree, but he realised that the learning style did not suit him, so he left university to find a job in computing. Instead he came across the apprenticeships from TDM and incidentally, Titania’s apprenticeship in programming. Max is working towards a City & Guilds Level 3 and hopes for a career in software development. 

Robin Walker MP with Titania's apprentices

When asked about how employing apprentices has benefited Titania, Ian Whiting said, 'Recruitment in our industry is very difficult and being provided with enthusiastic, capable young people, who have already been vetted and qualified by apprenticeship providers like TDM is a massive help. This means that we have really strong candidates who we can train to grow alongside the company and develop a career with us.'

National Apprenticeship Week in Worcester: Apprentices in Cyber Security

Source: apprenticeships.org.uk

National Apprenticeship Week 2014 sets the spotlight on apprentices all over UK. Last year’s events and media exposure have increased apprenticeship vacancies by 20% in the West Midlands, over August to October 2013.

Here, at Titania, we are aware of how important it is to offer young people an opportunity at the beginning of their career. As an expanding cyber security company, we want people to grow and develop alongside us.

Apprenticeships in Worcester have increased considerably as well. This week, we featured in the news, next to Hewett Recruitment, Worcester College of Technology, Mazak and Sanctuary Group, The Community Housing Group. The wide range of apprentice positions varies from social media, to engineering, HR, plumbing and cyber security.

Cyber security is still a new industry for school-leavers. As it stands, only 7% of infosec professionals are under the age of 29, and a mere 17% of the total IT workforce is female. An initiative called e-skills was launched to address these problems. Through strategic partnerships with the Malvern Cyber Security Cluster and a consortium of key employers, their efforts are starting to make a difference to the world of cyber security.

Despite being a young business, we recognised the need for new talent in the industry and took on a bright apprentice with no previous experience in cyber security. Three years later, Edwin Bentley is one of the key developers of Titania’s Nipper Studio security auditing software which is supplied to 60 countries worldwide, and has become an invaluable member of the team. Certainly for us, apprenticeships have proven to be a great success, for both the company and for Edwin in his career.

As the company matured, we continued to take on people that can grow alongside the business and now we have two more apprentices; Max MacFarlane in the development team and Luke Willmore learning the administrative side of the business. We would like to thank them for their hard work and also acknowledge the dedication of our more experienced staff for doing an excellent job at training our apprentices. 

Why not join us and the rest of the country, this week, in celebrating all the young people who decided to give it a go and learn something new. Well done, apprentices!

If you are an employer, or an apprentice in cyber security we would like to hear from you, in the comment section below.