Industry Promotion
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“It would be great if we could get the figure past 1,000 by the end of 2022, which is achievable in light of the fact that BIFA’s membership now stands at more than 1,500 companies. “As an industry advocate, BIFA saw NAW2022 as a fantastic opportunity to promote logistics as a ‘career of choice’ rather than a sector that jobseekers ‘fall in to’. It was fantastic to see more Members get involved and raise the profile of the sector to the next generation. We ideally do not want people to fall into it, but we must help ourselves as an industry more. We are grateful to all those Members and individuals who gave up their time to support us.” With National Apprenticeship Week over, our focus turns to National Careers Week (7-12 March) – keep an eye on our social media channels for information on activities taking place. Apprenticeships are fantastic value for SMEs For SMEs, the 18-month apprentice training programme can cost as little as £450 per apprentice and includes all training and a BTEC Customs qualification for the apprentice as well, which makes it great value. With skill shortages in all areas, BIFA is committed to encouraging its Members to capitalise on apprenticeship opportunities to add talent to their workforces. We have a dedicated apprenticeship site which contains all sorts of useful information, assets and practical tips for Members at https://apprentices.bifa.org/ Or for a specific enquiry, contact Carl Hobbis at c.hobbis@bifa.org
Members who came along to promote their upcoming apprenticeship and entry-level vacancies. To round off the week, BIFA hosted a free online event for Members centred around the International Freight Forwarding Specialist standard, with guest speaker James Billingham from the Skills Office Network. We were joined by aspiring apprentices and employers looking to find out more about this popular route into logistics and gave employers numerous tips to navigate the apprenticeship pathway. Executive Director Carl Hobbis shared his thoughts on why more BIFA Members should consider apprenticeships as a cost-effective way
to grow their teams. “Despite a good start after the launch of the International Freight Forwarding Specialist apprenticeship in 2018, uptake has been hit by the disruption caused by the pandemic and the post-EU Exit transition period to many freight forwarders’ daily operations,” he said. Ideal entry point “The International Freight Forwarding Specialist apprenticeship, which BIFA helped create in 2018, is an ideal entry point to the industry with over 600 apprentices already having taken the pathway with great success. It is the only apprenticeship standard with Customs as a mandatory module.
March 2022
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