A BUSINESS brokers has announced plans to take on another apprentice as it celebrates National Apprentice Week.

Bury-based Blacks Business Brokers currently employs six of its former apprentices in permanent positions, with a seventh due to complete his apprenticeship this summer.

Since 2013 Blacks has typically employed at least one apprentice at any one time. It offers two different types of scheme – business administration and customer service – which it runs in association with the apprenticeships provider Learning Unlimited.

Blacks believes it is unusual among companies of its size because it has to-date provided permanent positions to all those who have successfully completed their apprenticeships. It also offers former apprentices the opportunity to study for a higher-level qualification during their first year of permanent employment.

Blacks’ latest apprentice is 17-year-old operations assistant Callum Pollard, who began his apprenticeship in July 2017 immediately after completing his GCSEs.

He said: “I decided that an apprenticeship was the best career choice for me because of the chances of progression and hands-on experience I could gain whilst working at Blacks Brokers.

"I really enjoy talking to customers on the phone and also helping with administration work – I learn something new every day and I am constantly pushed to increase my skills. I really look forward to my future at Blacks, I can already tell it’s going to be a long one!”

Lewis Wroe, business operations manager at Blacks Business Brokers, said: “Apprenticeships have been really successful for us because they enable us to take on and develop young people whose perceptions of the world of work have not yet been coloured by other less professional employers.

"I can attest myself to the many benefits of the scheme for the young people who join us.

"Four years after completing my own apprenticeship at Blacks I now have a senior management position in a dynamic, fast-growing company that is a national leader in its field.”

Shannon Forrester, who completed her apprenticeship with Blacks in 2015 and now works for the company as a marketing facilitator, echoed Lewis’s comments, saying: “Since starting work at Blacks my confidence has gone from strength to strength.

"I have learned a lot at Blacks, and from the apprenticeship scheme, ranging from administration to customer service.

"I really enjoy my role and working with business owners all over the UK to help sell their businesses.”