Barclays’ new apprenticeship scheme gets the backing of MP

It’s a blunt question from one of the new apprentices on a training scheme at Barclays in central Leeds, and one which Barry Sheerman, MP for Huddersfield, answers more honestly than you might expect. Surprisingly, the answer is a member of his own party – although he doesn’t name names – who is rude to the staff working in the Houses of Parliament.

“It’s very important to have a nice conversation (with the staff) so I go out of my way to do that,” he says. “I don’t think we treat them very well. I’m a bit of a champion of the people working in Parliament.

“There’s one person on my side who is the most arrogant and treats people like muck. I don’t think that’s right.”

The honest response is typical of the way Mr Sheerman speaks to the 18 or so young people, from across the north of England, who are gathered in a training room in Barclays’ Albion Street branch.

As co-chairman of the Skills Commission, he takes a keen interest in vocational education and training and is here to congratulate the young recruits on being part of Barclays’ new apprenticeship scheme.

He has some good advice for them all, which begins with another honest statement.

“Our first baby died at birth,” he says. “That changed my life.

“I thought about my life and what I really wanted to do. I wanted to change the world, so I got into politics. Now I specialise in helping people to turn their lives around.

“You will, in your lives, go through some bad times and some good times and it’s turning those bad times into something positive.”

The slightly nervous silence from the young apprentices hints at their inexperience. For most, this is the first time they have had a ‘proper’ job – but Mr Sheerman believes even unpaid work experience can be helpful for school pupils in later life.

“It’s fascinating how many young people have work experience while at school,” he says. “If you have got four job experiences, you are 10 times more likely to get a job after school.

“Even if it’s learning what you don’t want to do, it’s valuable. Two of the girls here had tried something else and said, ‘No, that’s not for me’.”

One of those is 18-year-old Chloe Dodgson, from Kippax, who applied for the Barclays scheme in May. After a rigorous interview and training process, she was offered a position as an apprentice and has been working at the Albion Street branch for five months.

She studied psychology and health and social care at A level, and her work experience while at school was in a primary school. “I did three weeks in a nursery,” she says. “I really didn’t enjoy it.

“If I had gone into an apprenticeship in a nursery it would have been a really bad choice.”

So far, Chloe is enjoying her time at Barclays. Like all of the apprentices, she has regular assessments and has been assigned a mentor who meets her once a month for at least a couple of hours to find out how she is getting on.

The scheme is aimed at young people exactly like her, with no training or qualifications relating to financial services – they will be provided on the job.

So far, Barclays has recruited 344 trainees across the UK since the scheme started and is hoping to take on 1,000 by next June.

Each apprenticeship lasts for a year, but will also lead to a job.

“We take them where the positions are,” says regional head Steve Mullins, who himself has been with the company for 25 years.

“After 12 months, we want to be in a position to confirm them as permanent. That first year is tough, but we give them the skills they need.”

As Mr Sheerman points out, those skills will help to boost the economy of the whole country in the future.

“Entrepreneurs wouldn’t succeed without you,” he says.

“If they don’t have the backing and confidence of finance many of them are never going to make it.

“If you do this well, you will succeed as individuals and we will all succeed as a country.”

To find out how to apply for the scheme, visit www.jobs.barclays.co.uk/apprenticeships or call 03332 409719.

£20m investment

Barclays has invested more than £20m in the first year of its apprenticeship scheme, covering salaries and training.

Each apprentice will receive 12 months of supported training, working towards qualifications including a competency qualification in financial services, a BTEC award in customer service, and numeracy and literacy.

Everyone who achieves those standards to complete the programme is guaranteed a permanent job at the end.