Stagecoach encourage women to join the bus industry during National Apprenticeship Week

• Two young Apprentices share their experience of a successful apprenticeship programme
• More than 450 Stagecoach engineering apprenticeships completed and 180 currently underway

Two Stagecoach Apprentices in Stagecoach South Wales are using National Apprenticeship Week to encourage more women to join the bus industry through the company’s apprentice scheme.

Ella Hopkins, 16 from Machynlleth, West Wales joined the Stagecoach apprenticeship programme in 2016. Her interest in engineering was formed by working with her Father on a small holding in the countryside of rural Wales. She is looking forward to developing her skills and becoming a great tradesperson whilst working for Stagecoach.

Chloe Jones, 18 from Cwmbran also joined the Stagecoach apprenticeship programme in 2016.  Her interest in engineering was formed by working with her friend repairing car bodies, she loves working with the Stagecoach team and aspires to be a great body fitter/sprayer.

The Stagecoach Apprenticeship Programme was introduced 11 years ago, specifically designed to be one of the most comprehensive and challenging Apprenticeship Programmes in the bus industry. It is recognised as one of the best schemes aimed at producing qualified multi skilled technicians to work on increasingly more technologically advanced vehicles and aims to give participants the experience to become our future qualified technicians, engineering managers and even directors of the future.

Using the Bus and Coach Engineering Maintenance NVQ and Technical Certificate run by the IMI the company offers a Bus and Coach Engineering Apprenticeship to about 50 participants every year.

A total of 450 apprenticeships have been completed in recent years and a further 180 are underway, with apprentices based across Stagecoach’s regional bus companies.

Stagecoach also runs an Apprentice Plus Programme for apprentices in their 4th Year.  This involves access to training courses with various manufacturers of bus parts as well as those actually building the buses.  They also spend a week long workshop focusing on interpersonal skills, planning, coaching, mentoring and communications.  The company works to continually develop the programme to ensure that apprentices are as up to date on developing technologies as possible.

Stagecoach UK Bus won the Large Employer Category at the People 1^st Apprenticeship Awards in 2017 for the robustness of its Apprentice Programme.

Nigel Winter, Managing Director, Stagecoach in South Wales said: "The Stagecoach apprenticeship programme is providing the skills and training that the business needs for the next generation of staff who will maintenance stagecoach vehicles. We  welcome Ella and Chloe to the Company our first female apprentices in Wales, and look forward to further female applicants in the next recruitment programme”. 

Clare Willis, Deputy Training & Development Manager (Engineering) at UK Bus: “The apprenticeship scheme is open to all, “We consider all applications regardless of age and our only requirement is that they have GCSE grade A - C or 4 and above or Standard Grade 1 - 3 / National 4 or 5 or equivalent in English Language, Maths and a Science.”

Anyone interested in becoming a Stagecoach Bus UK apprentice should visit here for further information.