Quooker UK MD Stephen Johnson has called on the industry to invest in young people and address the skills crisis, in the latest Movers & Shakers film from Simon Acres Group.
Johnson said that the industry needs to attract and train more young people for the collective benefit, in conversation with Simon Acres Group MD Simon Acres.
“We must work together to improve the routes into industry, promote the rewards that are on offer, and support young people with first-class training and support. We developed our own in-house training scheme because of the lack of focused schemes available and have found that bringing young people into the business brings huge benefits to us.
“Young people bring a fresh energy and new ideas. When partnered with a mentor they learn quickly and absorb the business culture and heritage. It provides a solid commercial return when a business invests in their staff in this way, as they gain a happy, motived and productive employee that wants to stay and build a long term career.
“As a company we are working with others, such as the BiKBBI, to support the development of the new apprenticeship scheme, and the Kbsa to grow their retailer membership and build a stronger voice for the retailer. Everyone recognises that the skills shortage is a real threat to our future, there is no more time to keep talking about this, and we must all take action and do what we can to address the problem," he said.
Johnson added: “It is for all of these reasons that I supported the Simon Acres Careers Day by taking part in the live panel discussion. By sharing good practice, demystify procedures and addressing the ‘How to Hire’ questions, we can break down obstacles, increase knowledge and move forward to success.”
Click HERE to see the full interview with Stephen Johnson, pictured left, and Simon Acres, right.
