Northgate places its training trust in Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz UK’s acclaimed National Apprentice Academy is to welcome its first external trainees – and fittingly, the 12 youngsters who take their first steps on the career ladder next September will be employees of the manufacturer’s biggest light commercial vehicle customer.
The decision by van rental giant Northgate Vehicle Hire to entrust not only the training but also the pastoral welfare of its apprentices to Mercedes-Benz followed an in-depth analysis that focused on a number of factors, including the impressive results achieved and the high standard of the residential facilities.
Purpose-built and located in Denbigh, Milton Keynes, the Mercedes-Benz Apprentice Academy opened in 2008 and boasts 12 bays with Star Diagnostic equipment, three of them dedicated to light commercial vehicles. It offers apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeships on a range of light and heavy vehicle maintenance and repair, and parts operations programmes.
Access to the Academy has previously been restricted to employees of Mercedes-Benz UK and its franchised dealer network – 250 apprentices are currently receiving practical instruction and background theory from expert trainers.
But after securing nearly £1 million worth of funding from the government-backed Skills Funding Agency’s Expanded Apprenticeship Programme to help it train the next generation of automotive industry professionals, Mercedes-Benz is now marketing its Academy to third parties. And following a recent open day for fleet operators, Northgate Vehicle Hire became the first to sign-up.
Northgate runs a fleet of around 12,500 Mercedes-Benz vans which it maintains ‘in house’. Group Training Manager Ian Dunn said the fact that the training on offer from Mercedes-Benz was brand-specific and tailored to the very vehicles on which his company’s apprentices would be working out in the field, was a major attraction.
“The Mercedes-Benz team is clearly very professional and the results speak for themselves,” he continued. “The facilities at Denbigh are state-of-the-art but there’s also a strong emphasis on what I would describe as traditional values; some training schemes amount to little more than a box-ticking exercise but Mercedes-Benz is providing a proper, high quality apprenticeship that promises to turn out motivated, proficient individuals who will be a real asset to our business.”
Vehicle apprenticeships typically take three or even four years to achieve. Mercedes-Benz compresses this into two years, with youngsters attending the Academy for a total of 20 one-week blocks of training – extra work is allocated through e-learning and other small projects. Meanwhile, on-the-job assessments are made every eight weeks, as opposed to the 12-weekly industry norm.
Coupled with this intensive approach is a commitment to small class sizes – where others may have 18 or even 24 apprentices in a group, Mercedes-Benz restricts the maximum to 12, which means that in a workshop with three vehicles there is effectively one youngster ‘at each corner’.
The results are certainly impressive. Nearly 80 per cent of trainees who begin the course go on to complete their apprenticeship, a figure that puts Mercedes-Benz among the best in the industry.
Retention rates are equally compelling – Mercedes-Benz established its Apprentice Programme in 1995 (prior to 2008 training was delivered by external providers) since when over 1,000 individuals have graduated, of whom more than half were still working with the brand 10 years later.
No less important to Ian Dunn and his colleagues when weighing up the merits of the Mercedes-Benz proposition, was its strong emphasis on pastoral care.
“These are young people, many of whom will be leaving home for the first time in their lives,” he said. “So we needed to be reassured that when they’re in the care of our training partner they are going to be well looked after.
“Having visited the Academy and spoken not only to members of the Mercedes-Benz team but also to current apprentices, I am confident that our own youngsters are going to receive all of the support and guidance we could hope for.”
For more information, visit northgatevehiclehire.co.uk.
