A patisserie has found the perfect recipe for business success by taking advantage of a scheme to get youngsters into employment.
Terry’s Patisserie, in Aberbargoed, has recently taken on 20-year-old Jason Shuck on a full-time basis after he successfully completed a traineeship placement organised by training provider ACT.
Jason said: “It’s great to be out in the world of work so soon after finishing school, and learning the tricks of the baking trade with help from the staff at Terry’s.
“Completing my traineeship helped me to realise that catering was what I really wanted to do, so having the support of the patisserie in coming to this decision was amazing in that respect.”
Jason landed his full-time job after successfully completing an apprenticeship following his initial placement.
Traineeships were created to provide learners aged 16 to 18 with access to a variety of trial work placement opportunities lasting up to six months each.
Terry Williams, founder of Terry’s Patisserie, said: “For smaller businesses like ours the process of recruiting someone new can be quite stressful, in terms of the time it takes to find a candidate with the right skills for you, and the potential impact such decisions can have on your existing workforce as a whole.
“Having Jason join us as a trainee has been nothing short of a success from our perspective, and has given us the time and space we needed both practically and financially to make the kind of decisions that were right for us in developing our brand further.”
Andrew Cooksley, Managing Director at ACT Training, said: “The traineeship has brought with it the opportunity for scores of young people to prepare themselves for their future careers, and more importantly create a solid and considered base on which to build their working life moving forward.
“In turn employers and businesses are increasingly being empowered to grow the leaders of the future without the need to start from scratch, and the traineeship will undoubtedly prove particularly pertinent in ensuring that youth unemployment continues on its downward trend at a faster rate in Wales than anywhere else in the UK.”
Andrew continued: “From a business perspective the traineeship presents companies in Wales with so many potential benefits, both now and in the future, that can and should not be ignored by any employer in Wales, therefore, no matter how big or small.”