Smart Electrical Services UK Ltd is run by Ross Smart, 27, from Reading. Ross started his career with an Electrical installation Apprenticeship at the college and now takes on college students as apprentices of his own.

"It’s good for businesses to have apprentices – they’re keen, and it’s great to see their improvement from their course and the training you give them.

“I think customers like to see that I’m putting my apprentices through college – I feel like I’m putting something back. By the time they finish, I’ve got someone who’s trained under me for years, and who’s qualified as well.”

“An Apprenticeship gives a solid grounding in everything. If you’re driven, and know what you want, it lets you go on and do other courses as well as giving you lots of good experience on site.

“I did Geography at university, but finished not knowing how to get into work. I decided on the Apprenticeship and wrote to everyone in the Yellow Pages before I was offered a job. The college was really helpful and the teachers were really supportive.

“I stayed with the same company after my Apprenticeship and I was given more responsibility after my training. I started to run jobs for them which was a great experience, and made me realise I enjoyed training people.

“I started Smart Electrical Services after that, and soon was getting more and more work. So I decided to take on some apprentices myself, and after my experience with the college I was happy to take their students.

We've been running Apprenticeships since 1997, and in that time we've helped train over 800 apprentices.

Contact us

If you'd like to take on an apprentice or find out more about the scheme then contact us now by email or call 01344 766109.