Spirit Pub Company has renewed its contract with Charnwood Training Group to deliver apprenticeship training throughout its managed estate.
Charnwood has been working with the Spirit team for two and a half years now and over 400 apprentices are working towards their qualification or have already graduated from level 2 qualifications within the programme.
The value of apprenticeships is being demonstrated within the business: 80% of apprentices are still working within the business, and 40% have progressed.
Spirit has also been the first in the hospitality industry to deliver a level 3 leadership and management qualification. The second cohort of 60 deputy general managers will be inducted in February 2013.
Expansion: an apprentice in all 791 managed pubs
Over the next two years, Spirit intends to expand the apprenticeship programme and have an apprentice in every one of its 791 managed pubs, in both operational and managerial positions. Charnwood will provide ongoing face to face mentoring and coaching, online learning and assessment services.
Spirit national qualifications manager Joanne Bradford commented:
“We carried out a rigorous tendering process to find the right training provider for Spirit’s future talent development. Charnwood’s client engagement strategy attracted us, as did its track record and proven partnership support skills. We also wanted ongoing access to learner records and this is a service Charnwood was able to offer us, with just the right amount of detail and analysis.”
Gerwyn House, managing director of Charnwood, added:
“We’ve achieved considerable success with Spirit over the last few years by aligning our training delivery to its learning and development strategy. Having recently supported Spirit through its Ofsted inspection to gain a Grade 2, we were keen to continue our relationship and build on this success further, so we’re delighted to have won the tender.
“We know the business objectives of Spirit and the goals of its talent development strategy. And we support the initiatives the company is putting in place to improve business performance by using apprenticeships as part of its internal career path.”