Your IndustryApr 23 2014

Apprentice: Becoming an adviser is worth the work

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James Jenkins, apprentice at the New Model Business Academy, said his current employer, Cheltenham Independent Financial Advisers, was able to give him a vital “real job role” thanks to the government’s Trailblazer initiative, which encourages businesses to hire apprentices.

Mr Jenkins works as a client-service assistant at the Gloucestershire-based firm.

He added: “There are many exams that require hard work and dedication to pass but this will lead to me attaining higher qualifications and fulfilling more of my potential.”

The department for business, innovation & skills has lent its support to the joint apprenticeship programme run by Babington Business College, a further education centre, and NMBA, the training arm of support services group SimplyBiz.

Last month, another student on the NMBA/Babington programme, 23-year-old Holly Anderson, said she would not have grasped key concepts unless she had received the opportunity to learn on the job.

Sarah Stone, an adviser with Essex-based Harbour Financial and a graduate of Sesame’s Financial Adviser School, said the network’s training scheme had greatly accelerated her own journey towards full accreditation.