A 19 year old apprentice from leading marketing communications agency, McCann Manchester, has become one of the stars of a major government push to drive apprenticeships in creative industries as part of National Apprenticeship Week.
19 year old Lucy Holland-Jones met Business Secretary Vince Cable today at a launch by Skillset, the Creative Industries’ Sector Skills Council, as part of push to encourage businesses in creative and media to take on apprentices.
Lucy was invited as one of four apprentices taken on by McCann Manchester six months ago in a groundbreaking scheme launched in conjunction with Macclesfield College. The programme is believed to be one of the first in the country designed to give 16 to 19 year olds a career in the marketing communications industry.
Vince Cable announced that Skillset will make incentive payments available of up to £1500 to 500 UK companies employing fewer than 250 people as part of a drive to encourage employers to take on apprentices.
Dr Cable made the announcement at the launch of the fifth annual National Apprenticeship Week at Channel Four in London on Monday 6 February.
Other companies supporting the initiative included Channel Four, the BBC and Asos.com.
Commenting on McCann Manchester’s apprenticeship scheme, Talent and Development Director Darren Minshall said, “There’s a lot of noise in the marketplace about apprenticeship schemes for creative industries and it’s clear that business is really starting to see the value in this type of scheme.
“We believe our programme is one of the first to be totally tailored to 16-19 year olds to enable us to develop talent and provide a new entry route into the industry. Although we are only six months into the scheme, we’re already so pleased with how it is going that we are looking to double the intake to eight places for next year,” Darren Minshall adds.
To find out more about our apprenticeship scheme and hear from our apprentices and how they’re settling in, click on the video below.