As an employer, we’re proud to have taken on seven apprentices over recent years and see this as an important part of our work to help diversify the workforce. That our new recruits tell us they’ve had a great experience makes it all the more rewarding. Eli Belmar, based in our London office, was struck by his warm welcome: “The best thing about working at HLF is the atmosphere – everyone is very friendly.”

The apprentices are all young people under 25, where the apprenticeship is their first experience of a full-time job. They've worked alongside experienced colleagues to learn new on-the-job skills and knowledge, whilst studying with our training partners to achieve vocational qualifications in finance and business administration. Happily, we’ve been able to offer most of those who’ve completed their training a permanent role.

[quote=  Reiss Jones, East Midlands]“I’m improving my administration and customer service skills, and I’m able to go out on site and see some of the heritage projects that we are funding and developing.”[/quote]

The workforce challenges for HLF are mirrored in the heritage sector more widely: how do we attract applicants from diverse cultural backgrounds, address the predominantly female gender ratio, and create more entry-level positions? Offering apprenticeships – and so recruiting in a different way – has helped us to address all three of these issues.

We are committed to paying the enhanced living wage (rather than the apprentice minimum wage), and our apprentices enjoy the wide range of employee benefits available to all HLF staff as well as well as receiving the training and assessment support. Eli is sure of the benefits: “An apprenticeship distinguishes you from your peers in terms of experience and also develops practical skills that weren’t emphasised as much during school.”

We are sure too. Where in the early days we might have focussed on the risks of employing apprentices, we now actively look for the opportunities to recruit more.