Meet Swindon apprentices as we celebrate National Apprenticeship Week 2020

Swindon is known as a town which celebrates apprentices and there will be many events this week to celebrate the 13th annual National Apprenticeship Week.

Already several schools will be sending out information to parents about apprenticeships as a recognised and valuable career path for their children. 

The theme for this year ‘s awareness week is ‘Look Beyond’ and will celebrate the diversity and value that apprenticeships bring to employers, apprentices and communities across England today. 

Today we’re meeting apprentice Kaci Luker who is 17 and lives in Swindon. Kaci works with Orangestripe Outsourcing as an accounts trainee aligned with Swindon College. The company provides outsourced book-keeping and a telephone answering service for busy business owners. Her manager is company owner Dawn Pursall. 

What school did you attend? 

Kaci - I went to Commonweal School and also attended Commonweal’s sixth form studying maths and biology A levels. However after a year I made the decision to pursue an apprenticeship and I left.  I didn’t want to be in a classroom full-time any more. 

Why did you fancy an apprenticeship?

Kaci -  I wanted to learn whilst earning, work towards attaining a degree level qualification without incurring the costs associated with a university degree. I’m working towards a Level 4 AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) qualification. 

How's it going?  

Dawn - Kaci has added great value for money to our business, she is hardworking, conscientious, and confident. She has already passed two of her accountancy exams on the AAT course with amazing results. We’re delighted she’s part of our business.

Kaci - I have a really good employer. They make things easier and are really supportive. I have learnt so much not just in my area of study but also so many life skills. I love my apprenticeship. 

A big achievement for me was attending a networking event on behalf of the company and winning the ‘best 60 second speech’. I’d only been employed by the company for four weeks at the time. 

What is your ultimate goal? 

My goal is to work hard to achieve my qualification, to keep on learning and I hope, one day, to be able to run my own business. 

Why recruit an apprentice? 

Dawn - As a small business, we have so much knowledge that we felt it was time to pass this on and give a young person the opportunities we were given. Variety of tasks within a job is not always readily available in today’s workplace. 

As an SME we can offer an apprentice great variety and depth if they are eager to learn. 

The costs make it such a viable proposition as it allows the business to reward (with salary increases) as the apprentice improves and grows.  

What does Kaci bring to the business? 

Dawn - In our case Kaci has bought vibrancy to our business. It’s has renewed our energy and focus because she is so eager to learn, so positive and proactive. That then inspires us too. 

To find out more about Orangestripe Outsourcing visit their Facebook page here  -https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Finance/OrangeStripe-OutSourcing-124516025615292/