Yorkshire Water on hunt for new apprentices

ONE of Yorkshire’s largest employers has launched its search for 11 new apprentices to join its apprenticeship programme.

Yorkshire Water launched the scheme last year, taking on 10 apprentices in a variety of roles within the business, as part of its drive to ensure fresh talent is continuously introduced into the company.

The company, which employs around half of its 2,000 workforce in the Bradford area, is advertising the vacancies on its website, which also contains details for a variety of other junior and senior vacancies in customer services, service delivery, developer services and sewerage network and optimisation.

The scheme is open to people of all ages, from college leavers to mature people looking to retrain, and will see apprentices train in skills suitable for all areas of Yorkshire Water’s operations such as IT, process and production and mechanical and electrical maintenance of its equipment and assets.

Successful candidates will be supported by a mentor from relevant departments.

The two or three year programmes include college study and at the end of the scheme, all apprentices will be offered a job.

Pamela Rogerson, director of human resources at Yorkshire Water, said: “We view schemes like this as being vital to the development of our business, introducing new people with fresh ideas into our business and developing talent.

“That’s why we’re so pleased to be able to increase the number of places available on the scheme this year, and hopefully this year, like last year, we’ll be blown away by the demand for places and the incredible amount of untapped talent out there.”

Alongside its apprenticeship scheme, Yorkshire Water continues to maintain its graduate recruitment and training programme, taking on five university leavers in September last year, with plans to do the same later this year.

The company’s chief executive Richard Flint originally joined as a trainee on the graduate programme.

The opening date for applications for the apprenticeship scheme is May 23. Visit www.yorkshirewater.com and click on ‘careers’ to apply or call 01274 692060 for more information.