Kwik Fit, the UK’s largest automotive repair and servicing company, is marking National Apprenticeship Week by announcing plans to expand its apprenticeship scheme and recruit more than 300 apprentices in 2022. Throughout the week beginning 7 February Kwik Fit will also be featuring current apprentices on its social media channels, enabling them to share their own experiences of the apprenticeship programme and why they opted for an automotive career.

Kwik Fit is the leading provider of automotive apprenticeships in the UK, with its programme ranked as Outstanding by Ofsted. Over 4,000 people have started their automotive careers on a Kwik Fit apprenticeship, with many progressing to a wide range of senior roles, both within Kwik Fit and with other companies in the sector.

In recent years Kwik Fit has offered between 150-200 apprenticeships per year, but during the next twelve months the company is seeking to recruit over 300 new apprentices who are keen to follow these varied career paths. Kwik Fit apprenticeships provide routes into both management and technical careers, offering the flexibility that many apprentices look for in their first role.

In 2017, the government introduced apprenticeship reforms with the objective of providing standards which are more relevant to the needs of the modern economy than the previous frameworks. Leading employers in all sectors were involved in responding to these reforms and Kwik Fit played a vital role as the Trailblazer in developing new apprenticeship standards for autocare technicians.

Paul Binks, group people director at Kwik Fit, said: “Like in many industries, the skills and knowledge required in the automotive sector are changing rapidly. As the apprentices of today will become the leaders of the business in the future it is vital that the foundation of their learning keeps pace with the needs of the market. One obvious example is the growing number of electric vehicles on our roads. We need to ensure we have the technicians to service them and so our apprentices get a grounding in EVs as part of their programme.”

Jack Wakeman from Telford joined Kwik Fit as an apprentice and last year received the apprentice of the year award from the industry body, the National Tyre Distributors Association. He is now a supervisor in the company’s Shrewsbury centre. He said: “I’ve loved cars since I was small and when I left school, I didn’t want to go to Uni but found an apprenticeship in something l was passionate about. The Kwik Fit programme was perfect, and I loved it from day one. There is lots of opportunity to progress and that’s my goal – to keep learning and move up the ladder. I’m really grateful to my managers and everyone who supported me in my apprenticeship, and I want to be able to help the next generation in the future.”

Kwik Fit invested heavily in training and development delivering over 18,000 training days a year through its industry leading training academies. Apprentices are appointed into permanent roles and receive a structured training mix of classroom theory, e-learning, workshop practice and on the job coaching. This mix gives them a major advantage in developing the right skills for a long-term career.

Apprenticeships are available across the country, with programmes starting throughout the year. Those interested in applying for an apprenticeship at Kwik Fit should visit www.kwik-fit.com.