It’s National Apprenticeship Week, which recognises and celebrates apprenticeship success stories across the country. We’re delighted to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the personal development of our people by investing in over 30 apprenticeships across our business.
Exploring opportunities
Following the 2017 Government introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, we took the opportunity to invest into apprenticeship schemes within Copart and in 2018 we piloted an LGV Apprenticeship. The scheme, which offered our employees the chance to gain the recognised qualifications and develop the essential skills to become LGV Drivers, required a minimum of 12 months training with provider WTTL and included 12 physical days of attendance at a training centre
Any Copart employees, regardless of their current job role, were able to apply for an LGV Apprenticeship if they were over 21, with a clean driving licence and a good attendance and disciplinary record.
Dan Hope, Yard Operative at our Wolverhampton Operations Centre was the first to complete the apprenticeship, passing both his class 1 & 2 in early 2019.
“It was a goal of mine for a long time to become an LGV Driver and I applied for the apprenticeship to progress my career within Copart.” Dan said. “I had great support from both the training provider WTTL and my team-mates at Wolverhampton and this was by far the best achievement in my work life to date.”
Spreading the word
News of our first successful apprenticeship graduate soon filtered across our business and was received with positivity and enthusiasm from many team-mates who were also keen to take advantage of the development opportunities Copart had to offer.
John Bolger, General Manager at our Wolverhampton Operations Centre, said:
“All the team at Wolverhampton were extremely proud to support Dan through his apprenticeship and it had a really positive impact on everyone, as it gave a clear development route. After Dan graduated, I was approached by several members of the team about applying for an apprenticeship.”
Driving development
We were delighted to support a further three Copart team-mates in successfully completing LGV Apprenticeships and, as a result, these team-mates have now progressed into LGV Driver roles with Copart.
Class 1 graduate, Gus Harthill, previously a Processing Operative at our Wolverhampton Operations Centre, said:
“The apprenticeship scheme has given me the opportunity to improve myself professionally and has provided a career for life. Completing it has given me a massive sense of achievement and I am truly grateful to Copart for investing in me.”
Fellow Class 1 graduate Cosmin Stroila, previously a Multi-Skilled Yard Operative at our Westbury Operations Centre, added:
“I am thrilled to have passed and I am very grateful for the opportunity to progress my Copart career to the next level.”
Following the success of the LGV Apprenticeship, we went on to develop further apprenticeships for our employees in Customer Service and Team Leading, producing another six successful graduates by the end of 2019.
Progression and prospects
We were pleased to provide these opportunities to people from a wide range of job roles within our business, giving them the opportunity to learn new skills and explore different areas of our business that were of interest to them and improving their prospects for future career opportunities.
Two of our Team Leading Apprenticeship graduates have already been promoted into new supervisory and management roles, as a result of their newly acquired skills and training.
Phoebe McCully, previously a Customer Service Representative at our Newbury Operations Centre, has recently been promoted to Office Supervisor following the successful completion of our Team Leading Apprenticeship.
“I was fully supported by Copart when I wanted to develop my career within the company and I was encouraged to sign up for the Team Leading Apprenticeship, which has led to my promotion to Office Supervisor.” said Phoebe. “I’m excited to start this role and fully utilise the knowledge and skills I gained from my apprenticeship. I would encourage anyone to take this opportunity if offered it in the future.”
Congratulations to Copart’s Class of 2019:
Our continued investment
In 2020, we’re continuing to explore different areas within our business where we could potentially invest in training and development opportunities for our people and help them to maximise their true potential. We’ve already started the new year with the commencement of ten Customer Service Level 2 Apprenticeships.
One of these new apprentices is Mitchell Ward, Claims Settlement Advisor at our Wootton Head Office. Having worked in a customer service environment for four years, Mitchell is keen to pursue personal development opportunities with Copart to both strengthen his skillset in his existing role and provide the next steps towards progression.
“I signed up for the Customer Service apprenticeship with Copart as it will give me the tools to confidently handle any scenario I might encounter within my current role and throughout the rest of my career.” said Mitchell. “I really appreciate how Copart is not only tailoring the apprenticeship to benefit my current role, but also allowing me to have time within my working day to complete any tasks or assignments that are set. I’m excited about getting my apprenticeship underway and look forward to seeing how it can further develop my customer service and communication skills.”
A Vehicle Damage Assessor Apprenticeship is due to be launched in April, with an anticipated 14 participants. More information to follow soon!
Jay Honour, Human Resources Manager, added:
“We are continuing to offer apprenticeships at Copart in a wide range of roles to anyone in our business, regardless of their age or their current role. It’s a fantastic personal development opportunity for our people to learn new skills in an area which interests them, gain qualifications and potentially progress within our company.”
More stories about Copart’s People & Communities
Read our Press Release