Wall Colmonoy Launches Apprenticeship Program
Over the next four years, they will recruit four apprentices per year for mentoring and training.
Posted: March 8, 2016
Wall Colmonoy Ltd. (Swansea, UK) has launched a make-to-order apprenticeship program in order to meet the future needs of the business, develop its next generation of engineers and continue with its long-term commitments to support the local community. They have partnered with three local colleges – Coleg Sîr Gar, Neath College and Gower College – to identify suitable candidates for their new apprenticeship program that started in early September 2015.
Over the next four years, the company will recruit four apprentices per year. They have recruited apprentices for many years and determined that a more specific learning and development program is required to meet the unique needs of their business and to ensure the development of specialist skills and technical knowledge needed for its growth.
In partnership with Industry Wales and the colleges, the program has been developed based upon the principles of “the traditional four-year apprenticeship” combining work-based training with college based assessments. This provides the apprentices with the opportunity to develop the right balance of classroom and on-the job skills and experiences needed to succeed in the workplace. The program was designed to introduce the apprentices to the processes and techniques used within the three key business units – alloy products, precision components and aerobraze.
The manager of the apprenticeship program, Keith Birmingham, explains, “Our apprenticeship scheme is an excellent foundation of engineering excellence. All apprentices have a unique opportunity to work with and learn from experienced engineers.This ensures that key skills are passed on to the younger generation and thus, retaining these key-skills in the local area.”
The four chosen apprentices receive tailor made hands-on experience within a structured program coupled with robust support, mentoring and training. The feedback from the apprentices and the mentors was extremely positive. Steph Curtis, the managing director of the company, shared his personal experiences of being an apprentice and his career progression and development. “I was very encouraged by the sound logic each of the lads conveyed for wanting to pursue an apprenticeship, clear signs of maturity and personal direction.”
Curtis encouraged the apprentices to continue with their positive approach towards the program, stating that success was essentially about having the right attitude, skills, drive and ambition. “We are very focused on its long term future and profitable growth, and our commitment to creating an apprenticeship scheme is an essential part of our strategy to meet those objectives. This is an exciting time for the business, and it is a pleasure to see the quality of youngsters that we have attracted to the program,” he stated.
An Open Day event held in January 2016 invited students and tutors from the three Colleges to attend presentations about the program and tour the Pontardawe Plant. The second three-month rotation took place in January 2016.
Wall Colmonoy is a global materials engineering group of companies engaged in the manufacturing of surfacing and brazing products, castings, and engineered components across aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, mining, energy and other industrial sectors. Known for a unique, proven way of creating superior performing alloys that enhance engineered components, they pride ourselves on long-term strategic customer collaboration that produces value-added ideas and creative solutions.
Combining over 75 years of engineering technology with a progressive, visionary outlook, they offer customers trusted, customized expertise that results in smart innovation and shared growth.
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