New apprentices welcomed on board at Alstom

At a special event to mark their arrival at Alstom, most of the companys 39 new apprentices gathered at the start of their new careers.

All 39 have gone through a rigorous selection process before joining the international engineering company, with 12 of the new starters joining various locations in the Transport division, eight joining Grid in Stafford and a further 19 in the Power business, split between Stafford, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Hoo in Kent. In total the company is now developing over 100 apprentices.

Terence Watson, Alstom UK President, said: Im delighted to be able to welcome our new apprentices to Alstom as we look to help develop the next generation of the UKs engineers.
For us, its absolutely vital that we, and the manufacturing industry as a whole, look to boost the numbers of young engineers receiving a rounded experience so early in their career.

As we progress with our STEM programme, we hope to welcome young people in the future who have become excited by the thought of a career in engineering after meeting some of our existing colleagues as part of our schools outreach programme.

So many young people simply dont seem to view engineering as a viable career but Id say to them that engineering is very much alive and well in the UK, and encourage them to take a closer look at the possibilities a career with Alstom can offer.

Alstom offers three or four year apprenticeships, with the emphasis in the first period being on building knowledge at local colleges, with the final portion being more about building competence in a workplace environment.

Jordan Short, one of the new Transport apprentices, said: As an apprentice, Im most looking forward to working with trains. My dad works for Alstom and it seemed like a good move for me too.

Jamie Frew, who has joined the Power business, said: I wanted to become and apprentice with Alstom as I know that its a massive company and Ive heard there are lots of opportunities to progress.

James Perry, who has joined the Grid business in Stafford, said: An apprenticeship appealed to me as I wanted to get into work while also studying to become a qualified electrical engineer. I know that Alstom is a large company with many opportunities.

The company offers a number of different apprenticeships such as mechanical, electrical, welding and project management across all of the sectors that it operates in.

A number of the senior management team at Alstom in the UK started their careers as apprentices.

Alstoms Stafford-based Grid business is still looking for two apprentices; for more information go here.

Press contact 
Jonathan Smith
Head of Media Relations, Alstom UK 
Tel 01788 545602 or 07801 775650
jonathan.smith@chq.alstom.com