BGEN, one of the UK’s largest engineering companies specialising in mechanical, electrical,
instrumentation, control and automation, is celebrating a hattrick of successes on the training and development front as it strives to address the skills gap and encourage a new generation of people into engineering.   The company has been awarded gold status in The 5% Club, expanded its apprenticeship academy and appointed a dedicated training officer in a bid to support its ambition to become one of the UK’s top apprenticeship employers and an industry leader in early careers. 

The business, which employs 1500 people across 14 locations in the UK, has become an accredited member of leading skills charity and employer movement The 5% Club, achieving gold status on its first audit. BGEN is one of a select number of companies to meet the strict gold membership criteria of The 5% Club, with at least 5% of its workforce benefitting from skills-based learning opportunities in ‘earn and learn’ roles as apprentices and graduates.  

The milestone coincides with the first anniversary of BGEN’s apprenticeship academy, which has grown rapidly and now supports more than 100 apprentices, learning from Level 3 to Level 7.

This year, the firm recruited 45 apprentices – its largest intake ever – as it looks to build the next generation of engineers. 

“Becoming a 5% Club gold member and expanding our apprenticeship programme underline our commitment to invest in talent development and fully support employees, working at every level and in all business units, to grow and develop with us,” says Robin Whitehead, chief executive at BGEN. “We’re passionate about investing in the next generation and we’re proud to offer vital hands-on learning for people, equipping them with the skills and confidence they need to achieve professional growth.”

To aid its training and development mission, BGEN has recruited Jenny Jackson into the newly created role of training officer. Jenny will help to deliver tailored learning opportunities for apprentices and graduates to boost their skills and support their career development within the business.

For further information about BGEN, visit Careers – BGEN (b-gen.co.uk).

Manufacturing & Engineering Magazine | The Home of Manufacturing Industry News