Apprentices support the growth of a global business
As part of National Apprenticeship Week celebrations, we visited one of our key employers, Riverdale Global Ltd, to find out how apprenticeships are making an impact on their workforce.
Based in Warrington, Riverdale Global Ltd are specialists in liquid colour management, with over 50 years’ experience making liquid colour for plastics and additives.
We had the opportunity to speak to Satellite Manager, John, to discuss why he believes apprenticeships are the perfect solution for the growth of the business.
John said, “Apprentices are invaluable to us – they have enabled us to grow our business to meet the needs of our customers, who are predominantly based in Europe. With being a small company and requiring a workforce with a unique set of skills and knowledge to run efficiently, it made sense to employ apprentices who are able to learn on-the-job from the outset, enabling us to tailor their experience from day one, in order to meet our skills requirements.”
He added, “As we grow and develop as a company, the apprentices also grow and develop with us.”
John knows first-hand the opportunities that an apprenticeship route can provide to young people, having started his career as an apprentice with St Helens College himself.
In 2017, St Helens College provided recruitment services to Riverdale Global, to enable them to boost their export and grow their workforce.
Speaking of Riverdale Global’s relationship with St Helens College, John said, “Our relationship with St Helens College has grown considerably over the last three years. They provide effective recruitment services, from advertising our apprenticeship vacancies to facilitating the recruitment and selection process, which lessens the impact of the time and resource it would take to do this ourselves.”
He added, “St Helens College also helped us to identify the right route of training for our apprentices. A lot of the role is lab-based and following procedures, so they identified that a Science Lab Technician was the best model for us. . We have since hired two apprentices, who are doing considerably well and enjoy their apprenticeships.”
Watch what John had to say about working with St Helens College below and find out more about taking on an apprentice here.
