Leading Edge throws out lifeline to industry youth
Leading Edge Signage in West Yorkshire has revealed it is helping young people get a fair chance at a career in the signage industry, having committed strongly to apprentices making up ten percent of its workforce in the next five years.
Tuesday, 23 Jun 2015 14:53 GMT
The Leading Edge team with the firm’s new branded fleet vehicles
The company, which designs and produces display and graphics for the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors, started offering apprenticeships after just six months in business. Former Apprentice of the Year Joe Addison joined Leading Edge Signage in 2009, working as an apprentice sign-maker, and is still with the firm as an installation manager, leading a team of ten people and in charge of a retail graphics contract worth millions of pounds.
The team’s confidence in me means I’ve grown with the business and worked across the expanding operation in metal fabrication, the print studio and in vehicle wrapping”
Addison comments: “Leading Edge took a risk taking me on when the company had just four employees back in 2008. The team’s confidence in me means I’ve grown with the business and worked across the expanding operation in metal fabrication, the print studio and in vehicle wrapping.
“Since qualifying I’ve been promoted four times and there’s still so much opportunity to progress. Ours is a fast moving industry and our projects and contracts are so diverse, there’s no better place to get the experience and learn the expertise needed to be the best you can be.”
Jake Render is the company's newest addition who is working on his fabrication and welding apprenticeship
A newer addition to the company is 19-year-old Jake Render, who is currently midway through his fabrication and welding apprenticeship and studying for an NVQ in Engineering Operations at Bradford College.
Render explains his career path so far: “I started working life in a warehouse, but realised I wanted to expand my skills into something more challenging. Learning on the job means I’m picking up the skills far quicker and I’m getting the sort of experience that will help me progress further in the company.”
The British Sign and Graphics Association (BSGA) has recently revealed that it is putting together a group of employers to develop a new, fairer framework for apprenticeships in the sign industry that will come into force in 2018.
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