Member Article

Government grant helps tackle security skills shortage

A security firm has won £1,500 in funding to help it tackle a skills shortage which was holding back growth.

Custodian Total Security Services, based in North Shields, had problems finding qualified and experienced people to fit intruder alarms, CCTV and access control systems across the region.

Director John Reay said: “We had been looking for experienced staff to fulfil an upsurge in demand for our services for quite a while.

“We were finding that some engineers tended to move from company to company on a regular basis and we also found that some applicants lacked the knowledge that is required when working for an approved company.

“So we decided that training apprentices from scratch again would be a good option. We know from experience that apprentices tend to stay with you for a long time which is a big advantage for us.”

The company received £1,500 from Government funds designed to help small and medium sized businesses recruit apprentices from the 16 to 24 age group. Custodian was eligible for help because it had not employed an apprentice in the last 12 months.

The company found 17-year-old Kallum Whitelaw, from North Shields, via North East company Access Training. Existing Custodian apprentice Marcus Nef has now also joined the same training programme.

Mr Reay said: “Through on-the-job training and support from Access’ training programme, Kallum and Marcus are proving to be great employees; they are learning fast and delivering great results for us.”

Kallum said: “I spent a year doing an electrical NVQ qualification after I left school and I wanted to get an apprenticeship where I could use the skills that had given me. I’m really enjoying my work, I hope to make a long term career out of this.”

Access Training, which has centres on Gateshead’s Team Valley and in Chester-le-Street, will be starting a new Security Technician Apprenticeship programme in September.

The trainer also provides apprenticeship courses in sectors ranging from hair and beauty, to social media and digital marketing, accounting and manufacturing.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Karen Dent .