The Horbury Group, a Rotherham-based construction group, has showcased its commitment to developing its people by joining The 5% Club, an industry led initiative focussed on driving momentum into the recruitment of apprentices, graduates and sponsored students.
The 5% Club, initiated by Leo Quinn CEO of Balfour Beatty in 2013, is a movement of more than 300 employers providing ‘earn and learn’ opportunities to develop the skills and talents people need to become more employable and create meaningful careers. Companies joining The 5% Club commit to raising the number of apprentices, sponsored students and graduates on formal programmes to 5% of their total workforce within five years. Members are also asked to publicly report their progress in their Annual Report. Existing members range from SMEs to FTSEs and cover a number of diverse industries, from engineering through to the legal sector.
Horbury has been committed to providing new apprenticeships and training for existing employees for many years and is currently smashing the 5% target. The company re-launched its apprenticeship offering in 2016 in partnership with The Sheffield College and refers to it as “The Horbury Academy”. The senior leadership team at Horbury recognises the need to develop people at all levels to ensure the sustainability of the organisation and the construction sector.
Trevor Wragg, CEO of Horbury said, “We are very happy to have been accepted into The 5% Club. It’s good to receive recognition of the contribution that Horbury is making to apprenticeships in the construction sector. We realise that the company’s future depends upon having a talent pipeline and we are trusting that The Horbury Academy will be part of the solution to our ongoing skills needs.”
Lady Cobham, Director General of The 5% Club said, “We’re delighted to welcome The Horbury Group into membership. The 5% Club provides a fantastic network of HR professionals, sharing and learning from each other. All our members share an ethos of creating a skilled workforce through ‘earn and learn’ development programmes, helping people develop meaningful career paths.”
For more information about The Horbury Academy please contact us at [email protected].
