We can’t quite believe it’s been 10 years since we opened the doors of Options Skills. To say a lot has happened would be an understatement, and we’re proud of what we’ve achieved. But, of course, none of this would have been possible without our incredible employees, trainees and partners.
To give you a bit of background, Garry and I launched Options Skills in May 2013. Our goal was simple – provide people with the high-quality training they need to gain their trades qualifications.
Initially, we had the Birmingham training centre based in Hockley. Though we soon outgrew it and moved into Birmingham city centre, where we still are today. And, before we knew it, we had added Manchester, Wembley and Purley training facilities to our portfolio.
Over the years, the trade industry has developed, and demand has changed. So we’ve gone from offering domestic gas, electric and plumbing training to now delivering a more comprehensive range of gas, electric and heat pump courses. With this, our team has grown from a humble 10 to 50+ members of staff.
Providing high-quality training to our students is still at the core of everything we do. But we wanted to take it a step further. We didn’t want just to deliver training – we wanted to help trainees launch careers. With that in mind, in 2021, we created our in-house recruitment team. Again, the goal was simple – to assist our students in finding employment. In doing so, they can complete training, secure on-site experience and gain the skills they need to explore the job market. This has been one of the most important and rewarding things we’ve ever done.
Getting that first job, that foot in the door can be the most challenging part of starting any new career. So being able to take the pressure off our trainees and help them into the industry cements why we do what we do. To date, we’ve worked with 210 companies across the UK, including British Gas, AO and numerous local businesses and sole-traders, finding over 400 students employment in the electrical industry and helping them to start their careers.
And it’s not just the training side of things we’re proud of. We’ve worked with some great businesses over the years, from exhibiting at InstallerShow, and chatting on Fix Radio to being guests on the Powered Now podcast. And we plan to do plenty more of this in the future!
It isn’t easy to condense 10 years into a few paragraphs, but ultimately, we want to thank everyone involved in making Options Skills what it is today.
Though we may be biased, we believe our employees are the best of the best. We simply wouldn’t have achieved any of this without them. Not forgetting the fantastic people we’ve worked with through our mentor and employer schemes, our partnerships, and most importantly, the students we’ve trained and will train. It’s incredible to see you all starting your new careers and to have been part of that journey with you.
– Michael Fitzgerald, Director & Co-Founder of Options Skills.
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*since 2021
