Employers large and small are boosting productivity, getting real returns for their businesses and creating sustainable workforces, thanks to apprenticeships.
Evidence was on show recently when apprentice employers were celebrated at Skills Development Scotland’s Scottish Apprenticeship Awards in association with SP Energy Networks.
Both the Large and Small to Medium sized Enterprise (SME) categories demonstrated how valuable apprentices are to companies nationwide, representing a wide range of industries.
Full turnkey construction firm, Procast Group won the SME Apprentice Employer of the Year award.
Apprenticeships at the Hamilton based business are powering growth, saving money and creating a renewable source of talent to fuel Scotland’s low-carbon future.
Through apprenticeships, the company has strengthened workforce capacity, providing a pipeline of skilled specialists to take on larger and more complex contracts, including multi-million-pound social housing programmes.
With a 150-strong workforce, Procast has employed 100 apprentices, with 10 Modern Apprentices currently working across electrical installation, plumbing, joinery, renewable energy systems, administration and finance.
Apprenticeships have reduced reliance on agency labour, improving quality control and cutting costs. Apprentices consistently outperform externally contracted tradespeople in quality metrics, defect rates and client satisfaction, having been trained to exacting standards from the outset.
Procast Support Services Director Kirstie Adams said: “Scotland’s construction industry faces a genuine skills crisis.
“An ageing workforce, combined with the scale of work needed to meet net zero targets and address housing demand, means we need thousands more skilled workers than we currently have and we believe apprenticeships can help address this.
“Some of our most experienced tradespeople were approaching retirement and rather than compete for an ever-shrinking pool of qualified staff, we decided to grow our own through apprenticeships. Our managing director started as an apprentice himself.
“Apprenticeships don’t simply fill workforce gaps, they nurture talent that will drive innovation in sustainable construction and renewable energy. By training the next generation exclusively in low-carbon construction methods, we’re futureproofing both our business and the industry’s capacity to deliver the green transition.”
The winner in the Large Employer of the Year category was SP Energy Networks (SPEN), where apprenticeships are powering the UK’s journey to net zero while plugging skills gaps, improving staff retention and playing a vital role in the transition to a low-carbon energy system.
An apprenticeship pipeline enables at the Glasgow-based energy firm to upgrade the electricity grid to meet rising demand driven by the move away from fossil fuels, as set out in the company’s five-year, £12 billion investment to strengthen the network across Scotland and support government decarbonisation targets.
SPEN’s Head of Workforce Renewals Jen Davies said: “Our apprentices don’t just train for a job – they build careers and shape the energy transition.
“Apprenticeships are essential for our business and industry. We won’t get these skills and roles from market – they don’t exist unless we grow our own as they’re specific to our sector.”
SPEN, with 2600 staff in Scotland, has been an apprentice employer since the late 1950s, recognising their role in addressing the STEM skills gap. It has 267 Modern and Graduate Apprentices with 120 to join this year, covering craft (overhead lines, jointing and fitting), logistics, power engineering, project management, business, quantity surveying, engineering, data science and software engineering.
The business will add five new pathways in AI, digital infrastructure and green technologies and a new training facility in Cumbernauld will double apprenticeship capacity by 2029.
The work that goes into supporting employers and apprentices through apprenticeships was also recognised at the awards, with Xtra-Mile.com winning the Leading in Learning Provision category.
Collaborating with restaurants, cafés, care homes, leisure parks and global luxury hotel brands, the Edinburgh-based learning provider is addressing skills gaps, retaining talent and building a sustainable pipeline of hospitality leaders.
Xtra-Mile.com has developed succession planning for luxury hotels, including the Fairmont St Andrews and The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh, and an accelerated route to senior roles at the Dakota Hotel Group.
Xtra-Mile Managing Director Anneliese Archibald said: “Apprentices are vital to Scotland. We need to address skills gaps, and we will do anything we can to support the industry.”
Individuals who supported their businesses through Foundation, Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships were also recognised at the Scottish Apprenticeship Awards, including Engineer Fraser Bruce, who was crowned Scotland’s Apprentice of the Year.
The 28-year-old from Inverbervie was recognised for developing lifesaving technology and delivering projects worth millions of pounds though his Graduate Apprenticeship with subsea operations and manufacturing firm, JFD Ltd.
Fraser was awarded the trophy by Minister for Higher and Further Education Ben Macpherson at the ceremony.
Employers can find out more about how to recruit or upskills through apprenticeships by visiting apprenticeships.scot/workforce.
