Optionis in running to be a top 100 employer for apprentices

A Warrington-based company is in the running to be officially recognised as one of the UK’s top 100 employers for apprentices.
Business services group Optionis was recently highly commended in the Newcomer Employer of the Year category at the 2014 National Apprenticeship Awards regional final in Manchester.
The category is designed to acknowledge and celebrate employers who have recently invested in apprenticeships, and can demonstrate immediate benefits.
Following the commendation, Optionis could now feature in the 2014 Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list. The prestigious guide will be published later this year in partnership with vocational education specialist City & Guilds.
Optionis currently employs around 40 apprentices – the youngest aged just 16 – working across 11 departments. That number is growing all the time as the group embarks on its biggest ever recruitment drive.
Apprentices work towards recognised academic qualifications and almost always go on to secure permanent positions with the company.
Praising the Optionis apprenticeship scheme, judges highlighted the fact that the group’s trainees are given responsibilities and treated as permanent employees from the outset.
It was also noted that apprentices are central to the group’s goal of “long-term, sustainable recruitment”.
Optionis group managing director Derek Kelly said: “Our apprentices have brought energy, enthusiasm and an insatiable desire to learn.
“They perform a vital function within their respective departments, and have enabled us to maintain a high level of service as the business grows.
“We want to develop the most rewarding, effective and innovative apprenticeship scheme in Britain, and feel we have made a good start on this long journey.
“To be highly commended at the award ceremony was great, and to make the top 100 list would be even better.”
Earlier this year Optionis held a Dragons’ Den-style event to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week. Human resources (HR) trainee Beth Monks received a £100 shopping voucher and commemorative plaque after winning the group’s in-house Apprentice of the Year award.
The Optionis group is home to three operating brands; ClearSky Contractor Accounting, Parasol and ClearSky Business.
In addition to its two offices on Centre Park in Warrington, Optionis has bases in London, Middleton in Greater Manchester, and Poole and Dorchester in Dorset.
Pictured: Melanie Southcote of Optionis company ClearSky Contractor Accounting, and Pete Lyons of Warrington Collegiate, receive the highly-commended award at the Manchester event.