F. Ball Named Top Apprentice Employer

F. Ball and Co. Ltd. has been recognised for supporting young people at the beginning of their careers, winning the ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Development of Apprentices (Large Employer)’ award at The Newcastle Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG) Apprenticeship Awards.

Last year, F. Ball created six new apprenticeships across its engineering, technical services, marketing, operations, business administration and safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ) departments at the company’s Staffordshire headquarters.

Each apprentice is allocated a personal mentor and has regular one-to-one catch up sessions to check progress, discuss opportunities for further support, future training and career aspirations. The company also helps local schools and colleges with student work experience placements and ensures that students get an opportunity to speak or work with an apprentice during the placement.

On the receipt of the award, F. Ball sales director, Darren Kenyon, said: “We’re delighted to be recognised for our work to help young people starting out in their careers, not least because it’s a key step towards addressing the UK’s skills gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) roles, which is particularly important for manufacturing and construction industries. Each one of the apprentices who has joined F. Ball in the past 12 months has made an invaluable contribution to the organisation.”

F. Ball is actively looking to identify additional opportunities for apprentices within the company.

The awards were hosted at the NSCG Performing Arts Centre. An auction on the night also raised over £6,000 for the award’s nominated charity, The Peter Pan Centre for Children With Special Needs.