Westbridge Furniture appoints 5 new apprentices from Coleg Cambria Traineeship programme

Westbridge Furniture have recently ed five new apprentices to their Furniture Upholstery Apprenticeship programme following a successful partnership with the Traineeship programme at Coleg Cambria.

All of the successful candidates aged 16-18 who live in Wales, recently took part in the Westbridge Academy through the Traineeship programme at Coleg Cambria. It involved 8 weeks on a Traineeship, 4 weeks working on their employability skills at Coleg Cambria and 4 weeks on placement in Westbridge Furniture on the Deeside Industrial Estate.

Vicky Barwis, Director of Employer Engagement and Work-based Learning said:

“This is a great example of local business working with the college to help grow their skills base. Working with Westbridge and North Lancs training group we have started an innovative new scheme to bring upholstery skills back to North Wales.”

Nick Arundell, HR Manager for Westbridge Furniture Design said:

“We are delighted to be working with both Coleg Cambria and North Lancs Training Group in helping us set up and run our first ever apprenticeship programme. Through an initial Traineeship Programme, designed and tailored by Coleg Cambria to meet our company’s specific needs, we are extremely pleased to have found 5 enthusiastic young pioneers.

“In 2 years’ time the apprentices will be fully qualified upholsterers; having gained a skill and qualification for life and hopefully a long and successful career. Following the early success of the Traineeship Programme, we have decided to bring forward our plans to run a further course in January 2018 to recruit an additional 6 apprentice upholsterers.”

The scheme has proved so successful that we are launching the next academy on 8th January 2018, where there will be 6 apprenticeship vacancies available. For further information please contact traineeships@cambriaold.ac.uk or call 01978 267472