Apprenticeship applications at a North Wales bakery have rocketed as the fast-growing company creates an “oven ready” workforce of future leaders.
The Wrexham-based Jones Village Bakery has been swamped with interest with more than 120 people applying for engineering apprenticeships compared to six the previous year.
Bosses say the surge comes as the firm steps up the drive to train its own talent with a new intake of bakery apprentices also just started.
It’s a long-standing strategy that is already paying off with most of the company’s bakery managers and supervisors having come through the ranks themselves.
Learning and Development Coordinator Annabel Hall said interest had gone through the roof, predicting more than 200 applications this year with the bakery’s reputation as a place to build a long-term career continuing to grow.
She said: “We’re really getting our name out there. That comes from us engaging more with Coleg Cambria who support our training programme, doing a lot more open days with them and letting more people know about our apprenticeships
“We currently have eight engineering apprentices, and two of them are in their last year and due to qualify.”
“Currently for Level 2 bakery we have 10 new starter apprentices and they focus on how to bake and how to make the products.
“We have six doing Level 3 bakery, which looks more at the commercial needs of the bakery and running the business side of things.
“We had nine last year who completed their level 2 bakery and six of them are doing their Level 3.
“And last year we had four who successfully completed their Level 3. They are all signed off now having finished their apprenticeship.”
“The apprentices of today are likely be the leaders of tomorrow. They are the future of the bakery.
“If you look at our company values, strong partnerships is one of them and I think it is really important to keep that partnership with Coleg Cambria so people are getting the education and qualifications they deserve”.
According to Annabel, the Village Bakery will be attending two Coleg Cambria open days, one at the college’s Bersham Road site on February 10 and another at its Deeside site on February 12.
Meanwhile, the Village Bakery will be holding an open evening at its headquarters on Wrexham Industrial Estate on February 19.
Yvonne Evans, work-based learning practitioner in food manufacture at Coleg Cambria, commended Jones Village Bakery for their commitment to their apprenticeship programmes.
Yvonne said: “We don’t get that commitment from some other employers.
“They don’t release them or give them as much time as the Village Bakery, so this is outstanding as an employer.
“They are the foundation of the business and they are going to grow.
“I have seen them grow. I have seen them go up into supervisory roles and go on to be managers.”
Eighteen-year-old Jayden Reevell from Flint joined Village Bakery in July last year and is doing a Level 3 maintenance engineering apprenticeship.
He said: “Once I did my first week of work experience here that’s when I really realised it was such a good place to work.
“They were really welcoming and the people here are brilliant and the work is interesting so that’s why I decided to focus on getting an apprenticeship here.”
Lauren Travis, 30, of Connah’s Quay, is doing an electrical engineering apprenticeship and has been with the firm for four-and-a-half years.
Lauren, who was shortlisted last year for Coleg Cambria’s higher education learner of the year award and has been put forward again this year, said: “The apprenticeship is going really well, it is a good course.
“I go to Coleg Cambria Deeside one day a week as part of the course.
“I think it is really important that companies like Village Bakery have apprenticeships, it is important for the continuing growth of the company and to invest in the employees.”
Equally enthusiastic was Will Seward, 30, from Wrexham, who is doing his Level 3 apprenticeship in bakery after completing the Level 2 course.
He said: “I enjoy the course because it gets to a deeper level of what makes the bakery tick and I pushed to get on Level 3 because I felt it would be valuable to me.
“I think it’s good Village Bakery are investing in the staff and helping the future of the company.
“If a company invests in their employees, people are more inclined to stay longer.”
Hakeem Dosunmu, 30, from Wrexham has just started his Level 2 bakery apprenticeship, having been with Village Bakery for six months.
He said: “The apprenticeship gives me in-depth knowledge of how the products are made and to know about the company’s core values.
“I have only started, but so far it has been amazing.
“I have been learning so much from the training and have been able to apply it while I work and pass that on to the people I work with.”
