NATIONAL training and apprenticeship provider Positive Outcomes is leading by example this year by hiring 12 new apprentices to provide day to day support within their head office in Nottinghamshire.

Positive Outcomes hopes to encourage other businesses to take on young apprentices by practising what they preach and showing that taking on an apprentice is a great way to grow and strengthen a workforce.

This year, Positive Outcomes has hired 12 apprentices throughout their business including within its quality, HR and sales teams.

Sharn Hall was keen to start her apprenticeship with Positive Outcomes, as she saw it as a fantastic opportunity to gain valuable work experience, gain a nationally recognised qualification and get paid at the same time.

She said: “My apprenticeship involves working in the HR department at Positive Outcomes. I support the HR team in all areas, from internal recruitment through to daily HR support.

“I am really enjoying my job so far – every day is different and as I have always wanted to go down the HR route I feel very lucky to be in this role, while gaining a qualification at the same time.”

Sharn began her apprenticeship at Positive Outcomes in March after being approached by the business as an ideal candidate when she applied for an apprenticeship through its Paid to Learn website. She is now working towards her apprenticeship in business and administration.

She added: “I found out about Positive Outcomes when I was finishing school and I was unsure what to do next. Their incentives, qualifications and schemes such as Paid to Learn really appealed to me.

“Positive Outcomes has been great. I am getting adequate training and qualifications and I am gaining great experience in HR as well – which is brilliant. I feel I am in a job that will help me achieve my overall career goals.”

Another apprentice enjoying her apprenticeship at Positive Outcomes is Hannah Mumford, who is also currently working towards her business administration apprenticeship qualification.

The role involves Hannah providing day to day support to the sales and marketing teams at head office and supporting in areas such as social media, PR and event planning.

She said: “I found out about Positive Outcomes when I was applying for jobs. I knew I didn’t want to go to university but I couldn’t find any full time work so an apprenticeship seemed the perfect fit to learn while on the job.

“I applied for another apprenticeship originally but Positive Outcomes thought I would be prefect for this role, so I ended up working at their head office instead.

“The best thing about working here is definitely the people. They are very supportive – whether it is with work load or if I have any questions – they are just happy to help me.”

Ryan Longmate, director at Positive Outcomes, said it is important for businesses to take on apprentices and is glad that his company is able to provide their 12 apprentices with experience and knowledge to go forward in their careers.

He added: “We believe that apprenticeships are the way forward. We are providing opportunities for apprentices all over the UK so it is important that we practice what we preach by taking some on internally as well.

“All of our apprentices like Hannah and Sharn are very enthusiastic and work very hard. We are happy to have them as part of our team here at Positive Outcomes.”

Positive Outcomes provides apprenticeships in sectors such as IT, business administration, customer services, sales, warehousing and storage, retail and estate agency. It is headquartered at The Village Business Park in South Normanton, just off junction 28 of the M1.

To find out more about the apprenticeships offered by Positive Outcomes, go to www.positiveoutcomes.org.uk