Since 1973, we have been home-growing our team through a very successful apprenticeship programme.
Currently, we have 17% of our staff learning as they work, and this spans across the company, including apprentices in data collection, design, mechanics and electrics.
This helps us as a company to plug the ‘Skills Gap’, a term often used to describe the difference between the skills that employers want, and those that are available from workers looking for a job.
And it has reaped rewards, with success stories like Chris Bond, who started as an apprentice in February 2007, and he has gone on to run the Service and Support team. He is also doing his degree alongside other ex-apprentices.
Chris is backed by James Harrison and Phil Gorforth in that department, with both also starting through the apprenticeship scheme.
Elliot Lumsden has also worked up through the rankings and now runs our CNC shop.
We continue to inspire young engineers across the North Yorkshire area by founding and promoting the Scarborough Engineering Week, which takes place in the town every year.
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) is so important for the future of engineering in the UK.
It teaches critical thinking skills and instils passion for innovation that will continue to push engineering forward.
Beyond the benefit of learning science, technology, engineering, and maths, STEM assists in the problem-solving and exploratory learning that fuel success across a variety of tasks and disciplines
It is over a decade ago since Unison embarked on a very special journey, which saw us collaborate with other local businesses to plan and open an engineering academy.
In 2016, the Scarborough UTC was born.
We now work closely with the UTC to offer hands-on work experience to students through projects and site visits.
One of our design experts Mike Lawson is key in the ongoing relationship, offering weekly CAD courses.
Thanks to our link, we have enjoyed a conveyor belt of keen young engineers onto our apprenticeship scheme, many of whom have flourished into key members of our team.
As well as learning from our hugely experienced team, our new apprentices also benefit from excellent tutoring at Derwent Training Association and they are employed from day one.
They are also given the opportunity to develop and push on in a forward-thinking company, offering a variety of jobs in an area of Yorkshire where progressive employment isn’t easy to find.
And our apprentices don’t have to stop there.
As Chris Bond and other members of our team have shown, we also invest in further development, allowing our team to stretch themselves further in higher education.
For more about our apprenticeship scheme email [email protected]
Find out more about the CNC tube bending machines that our apprentices help to create.