Yorkshire Housing employs 18 new apprentices to double numbers

It has now doubled the number of apprentices on its books to 36 – representing over five per cent of the organisation’s workforce. That is more than double the target of 2.3 per cent set for public sector organisations.

Yorkshire Housing offer a range of apprenticeships across the organisation from trade roles in gas and plumbing, to digital marketing and finance. They combine hands on training with studying and usually take between two and four years to complete.

Since 2007, Yorkshire Housing have had 134 apprentices join them and over 70 per cent have stayed with them in permanent roles.

Kiran Olak, who leads the apprenticeship programme at Yorkshire Housing, said: “We’re keen to give people of any age the opportunity to begin their career in housing. That’s why we’ve already increased investment in our apprenticeship programme by 60 per cent this year and we’ve now got more apprentices than ever before.

“Our apprentices are given the opportunity to gain a fully funded nationally recognised qualification, alongside real hands-on work experience with our teams across the business.

“They make a real difference to our business and customers – they work, collaborate, and learn, and I’m looking forward to watching how they develop and grow over the next few months.”

Imogen, who’s just joined Yorkshire Housing as an apprentice electrician, said: “I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in and learning the ropes of being an electrician.

“I chose to join Yorkshire Housing because of how much they care about colleagues and the structure they have in place. They’re very accommodating to everyone and really care about a work life balance.”