Whitehall thumbs-up for Trailblazer forwarder group apprenticeships

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A group of freight forwarders who formed an employer group to develop an industry-standard apprenticeship scheme under the UK government’s Trailblazer programme has been given the green light by the UK’s Department for Education.

Led by Kuehne + Nagel (K+N), the group has 38 members which include Sunbury Freight, Neon Freight, International Forwarding and DHL among its founders.

It submitted an expression of interest to the education department in January and, following its approval, now needs to produce standards and a blueprint for the apprenticeship.

Minister of state for apprenticeships and skills Robert Halfon said apprenticeships offered young people a ladder to gaining vital skills.

“By putting more control in the hands of employers, we are ensuring apprenticeships are high quality and address skills shortages facing industry,” added Mr Halfon.

Human resources director at K+N Jon Hettrick said the company was pleased to be the lead employer on this “vital” industry initiative.

“The whole sector can benefit from training and development provision that delivers the specialist knowledge and skills we use every day in freight forwarding,” continued Mr Hettrick.

“We are committed to supporting the group with the necessary resource to deliver an Apprenticeship Standard that will give us that.”

In January, the British International Freight Association (BIFA) called on the wider freight community to provide broad support for the initiative, stating it was imperative the industry have an apprenticeship scheme that was relevant to day-to-day work.

BIFA director general Robert Keen said the government’s decision represented a significant milestone for the industry.

“There is still a lot of work to do, but BIFA will continue to support the group wholeheartedly, and provide resources to help develop an apprenticeship that is relevant to the day-to-day work of a freight forwarder,” continued Mr Keen.

“With customs legislation getting more complex, and the unknown landscape post-Brexit, it will be even more important to promote careers in our industry,” he added.