Employer case study: Boobydoo
The multi award winning Young Ideas Group is the umbrella for businesses Boobydoo, Little Trekkers and Henmores. It specialises in offering a range of women’s sportswear, childrens’s wear and country lifestyle clothing online and from its warehouse shop in Ashbourne, Derbyshire.
Here Melissa Corkery, Operations Manager, describes how apprenticeships are the perfect fit for their family-held business.
Here Melissa Corkery, Operations Manager, describes how apprenticeships are the perfect fit for their family-held business.
“We’re growing rapidly and have developed an exemplary online presence. In fact, we believe that we’re the biggest online retailer of sports bras in the UK.
In order to continue to accelerate our growth, it’s really important that we continue to bring fresh ideas and energy into our business. We’re very committed to doing that through apprenticeships.
As a family-held business it’s in our DNA to promote from within, and that’s no different as far as our apprentices are concerned. Our Director often says that ‘a good idea can come from anywhere’. The voices of our young apprentices (our youngest being 16) are as valuable to us as our most senior, longest-serving members of staff.
As we have such a diverse set of businesses with so many different roles from warehouse operatives to customer services, it’s the perfect environment for our apprentices to grow.
Building from the ground up through apprenticeships
I’m aware there are some businesses that don’t offer their apprentices a permanent role once they’re qualified; opting instead for a roll-on, roll-off policy of replacing one apprentice with another. I think that’s madness!
Why, when you’ve invested so much in a young person, would you lose them at the point they’re primed for a permanent position? It’s not just that they’ve learned the skills needed for their role; you’ve also had the opportunity to build them from the ground up in the ethos of your company.
Why we’re sticking with Access
Managing our apprentices barely takes up any of my time. I need to undertake end-of-course reviews but, other than that, our Trainer Assessor at Access Training, Nicky Mundry, takes care of everything.
Nicky visits every six weeks and makes sure all our learners are on track. Unlike some apprenticeship providers we’ve worked with in the past, she keeps me firmly in the loop if a learner needs a little longer to complete a task or with feedback from one of her observations. It means we can address any minor issues before they become big ones and before they impact the business.
What also helps is that, since we have so many apprentices who have stayed on as permanent staff, there’s a really strong support network where qualified apprentices can act as a sounding board for those who are still on programme.
Access were particularly helpful when one of our previous apprenticeship providers went bust. It was a really frustrating time with our learners travelling to Derby for classes only for trainers not to show up. Whilst Government rules are such that the affected apprentices couldn’t simply transfer onto an Access apprenticeship and had to start again from the beginning, Access’ care and attention in supporting these individuals from the off gave us great peace of mind.
Apprenticeships will continue to be our first port of call when we grow our team. Access make the whole process super easy so, without question, we’ll be sticking with them!”
In order to continue to accelerate our growth, it’s really important that we continue to bring fresh ideas and energy into our business. We’re very committed to doing that through apprenticeships.
As a family-held business it’s in our DNA to promote from within, and that’s no different as far as our apprentices are concerned. Our Director often says that ‘a good idea can come from anywhere’. The voices of our young apprentices (our youngest being 16) are as valuable to us as our most senior, longest-serving members of staff.
As we have such a diverse set of businesses with so many different roles from warehouse operatives to customer services, it’s the perfect environment for our apprentices to grow.
Building from the ground up through apprenticeships
I’m aware there are some businesses that don’t offer their apprentices a permanent role once they’re qualified; opting instead for a roll-on, roll-off policy of replacing one apprentice with another. I think that’s madness!
Why, when you’ve invested so much in a young person, would you lose them at the point they’re primed for a permanent position? It’s not just that they’ve learned the skills needed for their role; you’ve also had the opportunity to build them from the ground up in the ethos of your company.
Why we’re sticking with Access
Managing our apprentices barely takes up any of my time. I need to undertake end-of-course reviews but, other than that, our Trainer Assessor at Access Training, Nicky Mundry, takes care of everything.
Nicky visits every six weeks and makes sure all our learners are on track. Unlike some apprenticeship providers we’ve worked with in the past, she keeps me firmly in the loop if a learner needs a little longer to complete a task or with feedback from one of her observations. It means we can address any minor issues before they become big ones and before they impact the business.
What also helps is that, since we have so many apprentices who have stayed on as permanent staff, there’s a really strong support network where qualified apprentices can act as a sounding board for those who are still on programme.
Access were particularly helpful when one of our previous apprenticeship providers went bust. It was a really frustrating time with our learners travelling to Derby for classes only for trainers not to show up. Whilst Government rules are such that the affected apprentices couldn’t simply transfer onto an Access apprenticeship and had to start again from the beginning, Access’ care and attention in supporting these individuals from the off gave us great peace of mind.
Apprenticeships will continue to be our first port of call when we grow our team. Access make the whole process super easy so, without question, we’ll be sticking with them!”
"Apprenticeships will continue to be our first port of call when we grow our team. Access make the whole process super easy so, without question, we’ll be sticking with them!”
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