ICT company uses kick starter programme to employ two apprentices

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 19 October 2020

Derby based ICT support provider, Link ICT has taken advantage of a Government scheme to create employment opportunities for 16-24 year olds by employing two new apprentices.

The new apprentices are Harry Barker who has joined as an IT infrastructure technician and Danielle Poulter who is completing an apprenticeship in Business Administration. Due to the current situation all of Danielle’s studies will be completed online with Learning Unlimited, whilst Harry is studying via EMA training and will complete on the job training whilst working on site alongside other qualified technicians.

Danielle has a  BSc in Criminology and brings experience of working and communicating with others following a background in retail. In her new role she will be supporting the admin team and IT support engineers whilst completing a Level 3 Business Administration qualification. This will involve building on a range of skills that can be applied in all workplaces including building knowledge IT skills, developing decision making skills, increasing understanding on planning, organization and management. In her spare time Danielle loves to cook and bake and watch crime documentary and reality TV – her claim to fame is that she has been on a Miami Police Speedboat, but for fun not criminally!

Harry studied at The Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy and has GCSE’S in mathematics, English, Computer science, science, BTEC sports, BTEC drama and performing arts. He also has an MTA in cloud services and Mobility, with a BCS qualification in networking and architecture. Prior to starting his apprenticeship at Link  ICT, he was a first line technician at Ward Recycling, working remotely on problems and installing and fitting networking equipment. In his new role Harry will be working in schools to provide day to day support to teachers and students. In his spare time he enjoys climbing and spending time socializing as well as raising money for charity after a cousin was born with a rare condition and had to be in hospital for many months.

Commenting Mark Fryers, Managing Director of Link ICT said,

“Link ICT was really busy throughout the pandemic supporting businesses and schools to work remotely to ensure students could continue to receive an education. This has increased demand on our services and rather than recruit an experienced technician I felt it was right to offer these opportunities to apprentices as the futures of young people have been put most at risk by the pandemic.”

The Kick Starter Programme was launched in July as part of the government’s plan will “protect, support and create jobs”.  The Chancellor announced a £2bn ‘Kickstarter Scheme’ to prevent unemployment becoming rife among 16-24-year-olds. Through this job creation fund government wants to create hundreds of thousands of six-month work placements by covering 100% of the minimum wage for each placement for 25 hours a week.  In addition, as part of its investment in Level 2 and 3 courses, the government has tripled the number of traineeships in England, paying employers £1,000 for each trainee they take on. The government also introduced a new payment of £2,000 to employers in England for each apprentice they hire under the age of 25, and a £1,500 for apprenticeships aged over 25.

 

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