Air, Business, Freight News, Logistics, People, Road, Sea

Davies Turner steps up apprentice scheme

[ October 7, 2011   //   Chris ]

Davies Turner said that it plans to increase the numbers taken on this year, following the success of the first phase of its training programme. The UK-based forwarder said that all but one of the apprentices it had taken on are still in the scheme.

Chairman Philip Stephenson said it was vital for the success of the industry to recruit and train the right staff “so we are increasing the number of trainees this year”.

Davies Turner will take on a round dozen young people, both graduates and ‘A’ level school leavers this autumn and have already taken a three-day induction course at the Group’s Coleshill headquarters. They will benefit from a full multimodal training including logistics as well as having an overview of the accounts, IT and sales departments. The programme includes Bifa-accredited training courses, and participants spend time working in all operating divisions where they will be entrusted with an increasing degree of responsibility for running the company’s international freight services.

Davies Turner has offered apprenticeships in the past but Mr Stephenson believes that they are now even more relevant to young people. He added: “We will continue to recruit both school leavers with good ‘A’ levels or equivalent qualifications, and university graduates for what is both on-job and more formal training. It will be interesting to see from next year whether the increase in university fees changes the balance of our intake.”