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Apprentice Scheme Saves Six Figures In Six Months

Posted by: Creative Break

Date added: Tue 04 Jan 2011

The Creative Break apprenticeship scheme has saved agencies in the creative sector in Greater Manchester almost £200,000, since it launched just six months ago.

Funded primarily by Skills Solutions and supported by the National Apprenticeship Service and the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, the programme has successfully placed 26 administration apprentices in full-time employment within a mixture of sectors including advertising, marketing, digital, design and PR.

The successful placement of apprentices at some of the region’s leading creative companies, including Creative Lynx, Cuckoo Design and Tangerine PR, has freed-up account handlers to concentrate on client work and ultimately being creative.

As a direct result of this, companies who signed-up to the programme and hired an apprentice saved account handlers, on average, four days a month in administrative duties, which they were able to put directly back into the business. This has lead to an estimated saving of £191,424* across the sector since June this year.

Speaking about her apprentice, Hannah Fitzpatrick, Lisa Jones, recruitment manager at Creative Lynx said: “Hannah has been the perfect addition to the team and has really got to grips with the business, making the role her own. Not only does she complete a range of day-to-day administrative duties but she assists the team with a variety of time intensive jobs such as marking up artwork and sorting photography, freeing them up to concentrate on the more creative and commercial aspects of their role.

“Hannah has managed to save, on average, a day per week for the design team, which is a massive help – not only does it free up time for our designers but it has financial benefits as well.”

Sandy Lindsay, group managing director of Tangerine PR, added: “The administrative side of the creative sector takes up a huge amount of time and organisation and this duty often falls to account execs or the more junior members of a team, taking their focus away from their day-to-day role and client activities.

“The time quickly mounts up and for agencies this means administration quickly eats into billable time. It’s the same for in-house teams. Even though staff aren’t ‘billed out’, the time is still taken away from their salaried role.

“Creative Break offers businesses a solution. By employing an administration apprenticeship, the team is freed up to do the role they are paid to do.”

To learn more about recruiting an apprentice through the Creative Break programme please visit www.creativebreak.info.

*Calculated on the average account executive day rate of £350 per day multiplied by the 22 administrators currently in position with agencies across Greater Manchester. With the value of an additional four in-house roles at £69 per day (based on the average annual salary of a press officer in the UK for 2010 - £24,979)
 

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