Apprenticeships are crucial for the next generation to flourish

03 March 2015
Apprenticeships are crucial for the next generation to flourish

All businesses have a responsibility to get involved in the future of the next generation, says Lancaster London general manager Sally Beck

For the first time in nearly a century in most western countries, our children's generation may end up worse off than that of their parents.

This sad state of affairs is the result of a number of multiyear developments, but the situation has been particularly affected by the rise in university tuition fees in the UK, meaning that there are now many more youngsters who can't go to university and are struggling to
find work.

Therefore, it's important to reinforce the learning structures of alternative avenues of employment, to ensure that young people have viable options for getting into jobs other than university.

Luckily as general manager of Lancaster London, my passion for helping young people in the workplace has manifested itself in our involvement with apprenticeships and supporting the government's Trailblazer initiative to develop standards in apprenticeships.

My vision is to 'grow our own people', and I believe there's no better way of doing so than encouraging the youngsters of in our exciting industry of SMEs to be heard on the issue. That's why myself and a team at Lancaster London are leading an SME consortium to support
the government's Trailblazer scheme. I have fought to ensure that privately owned small and medium-sized businesses have a voice and a place on the scheme.

I am fully committed to expanding Lancaster London's apprenticeship intake under the new system, and determined to make apprenticeships a highly effective tool to recruit and train staff. I strongly believe that all employers have a responsibility to get involved as soon as possible in order to understand and get behind these standards. Improved standards will mean that both apprentices and employees will be more satisfied, ensuring a low turnover and many more young people happy and able to stay in the job roles.

The new apprenticeship standards will be improved and set in the same way across the board. This means that an apprentice should be able to work at the same standard in a coffee shop as they would a high end restaurant, and therefore have transferable skills, making them more employable with a respected apprenticeship programme that all parties take seriously.

But we need more employers, hotel managers, training and HR professionals to support our cause to ensure young people don't miss out on the opportunity to work in our exciting industry.

Lancaster London hotel project

Twelve young people aged 16-24 had the opportunity to work with Vital Youth and Lancaster London Hotel on an exciting hospitality focused Career Shapers Project.

The young people produced a series of short introductory films explaining some of the key jobs and roles in the hospitality industry through a series of interviews with staff from the hotel.

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