MITIE’s Real Apprentice programme has been described as a best practice blueprint for employers wishing to contribute to the regeneration of their local communities. Now in its third year, the training scheme offers disadvantaged local people a truly accessible ‘way in’ to companies based in the Square Mile and Canary Wharf. 

Open to everyone between the ages of 17 to 25, the scheme helps to remove barriers to employment faced by young people from disadvantaged areas and was developed by MITIE in partnership with the East London Business Alliance (ELBA), a business led and business funded regeneration agency that encourages and facilitates business involvement in the social and economic regeneration of East London. 

MITIE had been working with ELBA to recruit young people from disadvantaged communities surrounding Canary Wharf where the disparity between poverty and wealth is perhaps at its greatest within London. People from these deprived areas usually have no positive role models to follow. Often from third or even fourth generation unemployed families, they did not have the confidence or experience to "sell" themselves at an interview, let alone understand the commitment of accepting a job. 

The Real Apprentice scheme was developed to address this problem.

The Apprentices are each given ten weeks of training and work experience on one of MITIE’s contracts. This could be learning about reprographics at one of MITIE’s contracts, or getting to grips with the latest bird control techniques within its pest control business. Before they start their full training, they go through a week-long induction period where they start to learn what will be expected of them, about their health and safety responsibilities and customer care techniques. 

The training helps the apprentices’ confidence grow, and lets them develop their skills. The successful Apprentices who complete the ten weeks of training and who meet the required standard, are then offered permanent jobs with MITIE, one of its clients or other partners on the scheme. 

At the end of January, at an award ceremony in London, MITIE’s Chief Executive, Ruby McGregor-Smith, handed out certificates to the young apprentices from the 2007 intake. The scheme is growing every year with 29 young people completing the scheme in 2007. This year, the top prize that all of the candidates aspire to win went to Nassir Uddin who was awarded The Real Apprentice 2007 trophy and also an all expenses paid holiday for two to Barcelona. 

In the last three years, more than 60 motivated young people from East London have found jobs through the scheme. These were all young people, just needing a bit of encouragement and a chance to show what they can do. With the coming of the 2012 Olympics, more companies are starting to be interested in helping with the economic regeneration of East London and the Real Apprentice scheme is a great way that any company can get involved. 

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For further information, contact: 

David Revis, Investor Relations and PR Manager, MITIE Group PLC
T: 020 7034 7306, M: 07979 702465, E: david.revis@mitie.co.uk

For general information about the company’s activities please visit:
www.mitie.co.uk

Notes for editors: 

About MITIE 

MITIE is a people business, made up of over 44,000 talented and driven people, all working in one of our key areas of expertise: facilities, property and engineering services. 

They bring us passion and we invest in their potential. So when we say that MITIE is a company of worldclass people delivering world-class services, we really mean it. The result? 20 years of growth, annual revenues of over £1.2bn, and a reputation for being the very best at what we do. 

MITIE installs, manages and maintains, making buildings and their facilities, smarter, greener, safer and better run. We do this for some of the country’s biggest private and public sector organisations, but what’s really different about us, is that we put as much effort into getting the details right for a simple plumbing job as we do to managing an entire office complex. 

MITIE is all about having the right people for every job, and the right attitude to getting it done. Simple, really, but it makes all the difference.