JTL - Delivering Skills For Young People

WHAT JTL'S COMMITMENT TO EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY REALLY MEANS

More than 30 South Yorkshire women have been placed in electrical, plumbing and engineering maintenance apprenticeships thanks to JTL's Breaking the Mould scheme - a one off project to improve the employment and training opportunities available to females from the South Yorkshire area.

Breaking the Mould was spearheaded by JTL and has paved the way for more women between the ages of 16 to 24 to enter the sector after South Yorkshire was pinpointed by the European Social Fund (ESF) as a high priority area for increasing employment.

JTL pioneered the project, which was led by its Yorkshire and Humberside team, and worked with local businesses and schools to capture the imagination around the opportunities available in the building services sector. The ESF jointly funded the scheme with JTL, which was administered by the Learning and Skills Council.

An event celebrating the success of the project was held in June 2008 at Cutlers Hall in Sheffield, where speeches were given by the Learning and Skills Councils Director of Apprenticeships, Stephen Gardner; Head of DCSF/DIUS Joint Apprenticeship Unit, Millar MacDonald; and JTL's Chairman, Les Bayliss.

Tilen Electrics Ltd is a Sheffield based electrical contracting firm. With a £10 million turnover and over 100 employees, the company is committed to apprenticeship training and currently employees 20 JTL apprentices on the Advanced Apprenticeship (AA) in electrical installation. When approached by JTL as part of the Breaking the Mould scheme, the message was clear: Recruiting women in to the electrical industry, what's all the fuss about?

Managing Director, David Humberstone, has recruited three women apprentices via the project and hasn't looked back since. He comments:

I can honestly say we have had no problems following the recruitment of our female apprentices. All three are proving to be excellent apprentices and have slotted in to the company with no difficulties at all.

They are three young women from different backgrounds and with different reasons for wanting to become apprentices with us. What they have in common, however, is their ability to do the job and a motivation to do well in their chosen career.

Tilen already had policies and procedures in place for addressing equality and diversity issues and with the added understanding of the business case for employing young women and people from ethnic minority groups. So far as the company is concerned, they feel that they are more likely to get better recruits and the industry will also be more able to reduce any skill shortages that currently exist by looking at a wider group of applicants. Local authorities and other public sector clients are also increasingly looking for contractors that have policies and procedures regarding equality and diversity and social inclusion.

Dave Humberstone, says:

As a company, we reviewed our position regarding equality and diversity and the policies and procedures on discrimination and disability, as well as updating the general E&D Policy. At the same time JTL was launching the Breaking the Mould project and so it made sense to interview the female applicants recommended by JTL. We were pleased with the quality of their applications and they were recruited completely on merit. Their progress, both at College and at work, has been brilliant. Many people working with them have had their misconceptions about employing females into the industry challenged.

In terms of the business case for recruiting women, as a contracting firm with a large client base involve local councils on regeneration and social housing contracts that are quite rightly keen to encourage social inclusion and equal opportunities, we saw that it would only serve to further demonstrate we are the right supplier to meet their needs. I don't think that our business presents any barriers to employing female electricians. Other employers and businesses may not feel the same, but all I can say is that from our point of view we are very pleased with the young women working on our team and we will definitely be considering further female applicants in our apprentice intake this year.