JOBS: Aircelle recruits new apprentices

In its latest apprenticeship drive, aerospace giant Aircelle has chosen 16 lucky candidates to train with its team for the next four years – meaning that there are now 45 apprentices working for the company.

Aircelle began an apprenticeship scheme approximately five years ago, working in partnership with Training 2000 and Burnley College. Taking on promising candidates, aged 16-years-old and above, it has since gone from strength to strength.

Alan Hood, who was made Aircelle’s MD at the end of November last year, was particularly impressed at the calibre of entrants applying for apprenticeships this year, and has said that the scheme will become a major part of Aircelle’s recruitment process. Aircelle currently has about 1,000 people in its workforce, and has taken on up to 100 new staff members this year.

Mr Hood, who is also chairman of Training 2000, a major sponsor of the new UTC, said: “We’re looking at apprenticeships as one of our major ways of recruiting people.

“We saw a lot of good people, and went through quite an involved process interviewing people. There were a considerable number of applicants this year.

“Generally a lot of companies have ageing workforces, and it is good to start recruiting young people. Young people have a lot of ideas, and they tend to challenge the way we do things.

“We are looking for loyalty and drive. We want people that actually want to go into engineering and make it a successful career.”

In his role, Mr Hood now hopes to push Aircelle even further, working with UTC, to play a part in their curriculum, and discussing the possibilities of putting a training school on the business site.