Kingfisher : Supporting colleagues through B&Q and Screwfix apprenticeship schemes

It's widely acknowledged that apprenticeships can be a great way for school leavers to get into a chosen career without the costs associated with going through university or higher education. But apprenticeships can also be a fantastic way for people already in work to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to excel in their role and fulfil their career ambitions.

There are over 1,200 B&Q and Screwfix colleagues working towards on-the-job apprenticeship qualifications, from Level Two (equivalent to GCSE) up to Level Seven (equivalent to a Bachelor's or Master's degree).

At the end of January 2020, 123 store-based colleagues from B&Q graduated from the Retail Team Leader, Level Three apprenticeship scheme. This is the first wave of B&Q apprentices to graduate, with more than 600 others scheduled to complete their apprenticeships by the end of this year. B&Q's apprentices age from 20 through to 61 years old, making the scheme one of the most age-diverse in the industry. Since the launch of store-based apprenticeships in 2017, more courses have been added across the business, including head office, with 28 schemes now available, such as business management and leadership, legal, finance, HR and IT. B&Q aims to have 1,100 colleague apprentices by May 2020.

There's a similar picture at Yeovil-based Screwfix, which has successfully joined the Government Register of Apprenticeships Training Providers and has their own team of coaches. There are currently over 500 colleagues on store-based, head office and contact centre apprentice schemes at Screwfix. Over 100 colleagues will have graduated from the Level Three and Level Four Retail Management Apprenticeship Programmes by March this year. Screwfix has been running apprenticeships for its colleagues since January 2018. There are eight Screwfix apprenticeship schemes running, including qualifications in Retail Management, HR and Finance, as well as its Contact Centre schemes, which are run in conjunction with Yeovil College.

Kingfisher will also launch several apprenticeships in the coming year for colleagues working in its head office functions, such as Finance, IT, Digital, HR, and Supply Chain.

B&Q apprentice fact file

Number of colleagues on courses: 700

When did the courses start: 2017

Who are the courses for: part- and full-time, permanent store and head office-based colleagues

Youngest apprentice: 20

Oldest apprentice: 61

Courses on offer: 28 in total, including Retail Team Leader, Business Management and Leadership, Legal, Finance, HR, IT

Screwfix apprentice fact file

Number of colleagues on courses: 517

When did the courses start: 2018

Who are the courses for: part- and full-time, permanent store, head office and contact centre-based colleagues

Youngest apprentice: 21

Oldest apprentice: 58

Courses on offer: 8 in total, including Retail Management, HR, Learning & Development, Finance, Contact Centre Team Leader (with Yeovil College), Contact Centre Customer Service (with Yeovil College)