RUSSELL Taylor Group this week celebrates the major part its apprentices have played in the company's growth – with a vow that young people will be at the heart of its future development.

As part of National Apprenticeship Week, the organisation reflects on the impact apprentices have made on the company in its 10-year history.

It's a decade that has seen growth from a father and son entrepreneurial dream to the international technical recruitment and training provider it is today with a projected turnover this year of £30m.

Since its start-up in 2006, Russell Taylor Group, whose headquarters are in Bromborough, Wirral, has taken on 24 apprentices. Of these, 13 are still with the business while many, due to their training, have moved on to successful careers in other areas or set up their own business.

Their jobs have been across a range of disciplines, from business administration and customer service to accounts and marketing.

Group chairman Peter Russell said: “As a rapidly developing recruitment business, Russell Taylor has faced many challenges in managing its growth, dealing with issues such as building a culture of high performance, team work as well as customer and candidate service.

“In an industry notorious for its high turnover of employees, it is important we maintain continuity of relationships with clients and candidates and that the business constantly looks to evolve to meet the ever-demanding needs of our marketplace.

“In such a marketplace, we recognised early on that developing ‘home grown’ talent was a key feature to meeting staffing needs and, through our apprentices, we have seen clear, proven advantages not only for the company as a whole but also for the future of these young people.”

Among these advantages, explained Peter, are that young people bring fresh minds and little “employment baggage” to the workplace. Their attitudes and behaviour can be shaped to suit their role and company culture, they learn new skills and gain knowledge exceptionally quickly and, if treated fairly and are allowed to develop their own strengths and capabilities, tend to become very loyal to the organisation.

These young people become great ambassadors for the business, their enthusiasm refreshes the thinking of existing and longer serving team members while mentoring the apprentices expands the skills and motivation of their managers.

At the head of what he describes as “very special community of young people”, Peter added: “Russell Taylor Group is very proud of its record in developing these young people and is so much in awe of its young apprentices.

“The biggest incentive for me to come to work is to see the nurtured progress of so many young talented people, some of whom joined us at the tender ages of 16-18 and are now developing into mature, high performing stars.

“Their loyalty and commitment is an inspiration to us all but, more importantly, is a fabulous testimony for the future of apprenticeship development.

“In fact, we are currently searching for our next group of potential future stars to help take the business forward.”