adi Group, the Birmingham-based engineering company, is encouraging local businesses to invest in pre-apprenticeship schemes to help plug the Midlands skills gap.

Working alongside the Confederation of British Industries (CBI) and with support from West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, the company hopes to generate major employment opportunities across the region by doubling its current staff levels by 2020.

A key part of adi’s people strategy is inspiring the next generation of young engineers via its pre-apprenticeship scheme – the UK’s first apprenticeship for 14-16 year olds – by delivering nearly 100 pre-apprenticeships by 2020.

The vision is that the pre-apprenticeship model and approach will reach out to thousands of children, via a network of like-minded businesses interacting with their local schools.

This sentiment is brought to the fore in adi’s newly published pre-apprenticeship programme guide for businesses – Inspiring the Workforce of Tomorrow. This literature covers the ‘whys’, ‘whats’ and ‘hows’ of the scheme, including the tangible benefits that businesses can gain from integrating the model into their own workplaces. For instance, businesses will significantly reduce future recruitment costs by creating a steady and reliable pipeline of recruits, who are more likely to remain loyal to the company.

The guide was distributed to senior leaders from the region’s largest employers as well as owners or leaders of a number of SME’s, at the CBI’s May regional council meeting, held at adi Group’s offices in Kings Norton.

The CBI meeting was an ideal opportunity to encourage the attendee businesses to support adi Group’s pre-apprentice programme by considering the model for their own companies, and ultimately share adi’s vision to inspire and guide the UK’s young men and women into the workplace.

Andy Street, Birmingham’s newly elected Mayor attended the meeting and heard first-hand the employment and skills development opportunities the adi Group are creating over the next four years.

Ceo of adi Group, Alan Lusty, said: “It’s a well-known fact that our country is struggling to fill the nationwide skills shortage, and we recognise that apprenticeships are a vital avenue for businesses to consider.”

He added: “With a recent CBI survey revealing that employers are growing increasingly concerned about not being able to find enough highly-skilled staff, we hope that our innovative scheme will find its way into more businesses. We look forward to seeing where these conversations will take us, and how we can help shape the future of the nation’s skills shortage together.”