OPINION: Apprentices are vital in our company - Harrogate Bus Company’s Alex Hornby

Fresh from his award win at the brilliant Harrogate Advertiser Business Excellence Awards last week, Owen Baxter - our electrical and mechanical engineering apprentice based at our depot in Starbeck - is truly basking in his new-found glory.

It really is a joy to see the pride he has in the job now taken to another level following his well-deserved recognition.

Such is our keenness to motivate and develop people, it is no coincidence that his boss - Engineering Manager Sam Cockburn - started his career with us as an apprentice 19 years ago, and now runs the IRTE-certified workshop which will soon boast one of the most advanced, zero emission fleet of electric buses that exist anywhere on the planet.

As I’ve written in these pages before, we may be a bus company and an operator of public transport but we exist as a large group of people to help other people move around to enable their daily existence.

We are a people business.

This is why Owen’s win and our keenness to promote and develop apprenticeships is so critical.

Engineering skills are becoming more scarce and that’s why we see it as our responsibility to train people ourselves.

Like Sam, they will become our leaders of the future.

I also strongly believe that learning by doing is the most effective means of understanding new skills.

Whilst I studied at University, the most effective lessons I received were as a part-time student bus driver in between my studies and in my summer breaks.

Seeing things from a bus driver’s perspective, as both a colleague inside the business whilst watching and interacting with customers outside the business, did more for my management career than many of my lectures did.

The majority of Owen’s time with us, as with all our engineering apprentices, is spent on the shop floor - learning alongside our highly experienced engineering technicians.

Over four years, 26 different subject areas are covered, initially with practical learning by our college partners, then applying these skills back with us alongside a ‘buddy’ to ensure the apprentice is comfortable and confident, and then with the bulk of their working life operating independently.

Each of our apprentices is exposed to the vast range of skills needed to operate a professional workshop and the complex vehicle plus engineering and electrical systems as found on a modern fleet of buses.

Exams and practical tasks underline their full competence.

As you can imagine, we are proud of Owen – and of Sam too. And that’s why see it vital that we have more Owens and Sams in our company.

What is particularly notable is that many of engineering apprentices tell us this was never a job they would have considered, but now wouldn’t change it for the world.

Our next recruitment drive for our September intake is underway and it may be up the street of anyone keen to learn new skills and be a force for good – and, maybe, you could become an award winner too.