Training matters at Corus Cradley!

Despite recent reports on the shortage of skilled engineering workers in the Black Country, a Cradley company is building from within to secure its future!

Plate Processing Centre, based on Park Road, owes over half of its 29 staff employees to the Modern Apprentice Scheme (or Youth Training Scheme as it was formerly known). The company is a firm believer in taking on raw recruits and moulding them for the future -and loyalty tends to work both ways when they acquire the necessary skills to move up within the company.

Cradley Modern Apprentice coordinator Roger Grove explains: "We've been taking 2-3 people on a year for the last 20 years now and although they start in basic administration, it gives them a footing on the ladder and a real incentive to move on up and discover their particular skill base.

"Our sales manager, Dave Green, joined us as a YTS, while our production controller, quality manager, training coordinator, purchase controller and two of our CAD technicians all started on the Modern Apprentice Scheme."

A current example is former Stourbridge College student, Rebecca Grazier, who is now responsible for training a new Corus recruit - and sending him on the course she took!

Rebecca left Thorns Community College in 1999 with ten GCSEs, but didn't want to go to university and took a Modern Apprentice in Business Administration. She then went on a day release NVQ2 course with the college while working for Corus Cradley - and blossomed to move from basic sales administration to stock control in just a few months.

She now has an NVQ3 in Business Administration and is Adam Baker's supervisor, working with him to ensure finished product comes into the warehouse in time to be sent out to customers. When he joined in July she had no hesitation in recommending the route she had taken.

Rebecca says: "I'm monitoring Adam's progress, so it helps that I've done the course. I know what he needs to achieve and I can help him with it. I wouldn't have got my job at Corus without the course, so it's made a real difference to me - and it's already proving that way for Adam as well."

Mr Grove adds: "I must pay tribute to Stourbridge College, because we've always had a great partnership with them and it's they who find the recruits for us and properly monitor their progress. Their tutors are very hands-on and visit us on a regular basis - helping with one-to-one mentoring and personal development plans that really make a difference.

"It's certainly not the slave labour that some misdirected people have called it, because if both sides put in the effort and commitment required then it really can be a winner.

"Another good example is our new business support group manager, Sean Clark, who started with us on Modern Apprentice, then moved on to Corus HQ at The Steelpark in Wednesfield to gain further experience, and now rejoins us as a Grade 4 manager and one of the top executives in the company."

Cradley general manager Steve Tromans, who only took over the reins last September, is a big convert to the Modern Apprentice Scheme too and admits it is largely responsible for the camaraderie that exists between the workforce.

He says: "I inherited a very dedicated team, all fiercely loyal to Corus and proud of coming up through the ranks. It obviously works, so we're currently looking at pushing it even further with Modern Apprentice roles within the workshop and even on the shop floor next year.

"If there is a long-standing engineering skills shortage out there, then you may as well do something about it and start training them yourself."