We are only 20 days in, but October has already been a remarkable month here at CWE towers.

We started off the month with a trip to London, not to buy a heat magazine, but as a guest speaker in Parliament would you believe! Our Director, Andrew headed to London as a representative of the Joint Industry Board (JIB) for the official launch of the ‘ECS Registered Electrician Status’. As the Chairman of the South Wales Regional JIB and a member of the National JIB, Andrew is well versed in the importance of ensuring our industry undergoes a dramatic overhaul to ensure all electrical practices in the UK are carried out safely and by qualified electricians. Andrew says ‘it is important to recognise the skills and knowledge of our qualified electricians across the UK, the campaign will hopefully encourage the industry to use the scheme to ensure all electrical works going forward are carried out by competent, qualified and registered engineers.’

Andrew on the ‘Shine a Light’ Campaign

The ‘Shine a Light’ campaign aims to recognise qualified ECS Electricians and to start encouraging the first steps towards licensing the industry. This registered status will be available to all ECS Installation & Maintenance Electrician card holders who are qualified in the current regulation edition of the BS7671 Wiring Regulations. All applicants of the Registered Electrician status will also need to sign up to a Code of Professional Practice as part of this campaign to raise the standards of the industry.

After this amazing start to the month, two of our apprentices, Peter and Lloyd spent the day at the SkillsCymru exhibition in the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. SkillsCymru is the largest exhibition for jobs and skills in Wales; it is an interactive event that displays the wide variety of careers available to young people in Wales. It is an amazing event that houses all sorts of industry from Food & Drink to SFX Costume and makeup design.

Industry demonstrations at SkillCymru

The pair spent the day talking and interacting with many of the thousands of young people from all over Wales attending the exhibition, explaining and outlining the benefits of an apprenticeship in the Construction industry as a career option. They gave demonstrations to the visitors, showing them some of the basics including a short demo on how to wire a plug. We are so proud of both Peter and Lloyd for the hard work they put in for the ECA Exhibition stand, they gave 110% and I dare say they have encouraged many into the profession, well done lads!

Peter, Rachel & Lloyd

Also, this Friday sees our other Director, Rachel, returning to the Apprenticeship Awards Cymru at the Celtic Manor in Newport. After our impressive win in the small business category last year, Rachel was asked to return to the awards this year as a panel judge for the awards and also as a validation judge for the small business category. All of us here at CWE would like to wish all the finalists the best of luck, it is truly an honour getting to this stage, you should be very proud of such an achievement.

Happy Friday Everyone!

We thought we would take this opportunity to welcome two of our newest recruits, Jordan and Robert, to the CWE team. Both Jordan and Robert joined the company just over a month ago and are settling in nicely into their traineeship as electrical apprentices.

Following Gavin and Rachel’s presentation at a Croesceiliog High School back in February, Jordan and Robert attended an open day at Coleg QS to see what the apprenticeship was all about. After signing up for the September course, both were selected from a number of aspiring future apprentices to come to CWE to carry out their traineeship. We are very pleased with their progress and wish them luck for the duration for their apprenticeship.

This weekend also sees our Director, Rachel Kendall, take to the streets of Cardiff to complete the half marathon alongside 24,999 other aspiring runners. She has been training hard to complete her first ever half marathon whilst simultaneously raising money for the restoration fund for the Usk Royal British Legion. We wish her luck and look forward to seeing how she got on.

That’s all folks for another very busy week at #CWETowers – hope you have a wonderful weekend, and good luck to all running the Cardiff Half Marathon this Sunday from all of us here at #CWE, we’ve got all our fingers and toes crossed the weather stays nice!

Jordan, Robert & Andrew

Lloyd is a level 3 apprentice in his 2^nd year at college. Lloyd decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and train to be an electrician. With his dad being in the industry, Lloyd was brought up on apprenticeships and knew the route he had to pursue to get to where he wanted to be.

For Lloyd, the best part of completing his apprenticeship with CWE is the variety of work: ‘You learn a lot. One day you could be helping out on an electrical upgrade and the next repairing a faulty fire alarm.’

Lloyd would definitely recommend an apprenticeship as it is a job and a trade for life.

Lewis – Level 3 Apprentice

This is Lewis and he too is a level 3 apprentice in his 2^nd year are Coleg QS. Growing up Lewis wanted to be a tradesman. He first heard about apprenticeships from his brother and he was the reason Lewis first started looking at apprenticeships.

Lewis enjoys everything about the apprenticeship programme; he loves a challenge and learning new things but for him, the best part is working alongside qualified, JIB electricians. Lewis says learns a lot from his mentors.

Peter – First Year Apprentice

Meet Peter, our newest recruit in the Apprenticeship Team. Growing up he wanted to be a Police office, but after leaving school, Peter weighed up his options and decided that tracking down an apprenticeship was a great career choice. He first heard about apprenticeships through his career advisor at school. Peter enjoys the practical element of his apprenticeship the most.

When asked about his apprenticeship, Peter said ‘CWE are really good, they are dedicated to helping you finish your apprenticeship’.

Aged 22, Peter said that the first year can be tough and that you need to prepare yourself for it, but it is 100% worth it as you have a job for life.

Jake is a second year apprentice here at CWE, and aged 22 he is one of the more senior members of the apprenticeship team. Growing up, Jake wanted to be a pilot, but later pursued a career in electrics.

He first heard about apprenticeships in school. Once he qualifies as a JIB Electrician, Jake wants to go onto university to further his studies. Jake has a keen interest in electro technology and his favourite module is practical training.

Jake’s advice to those seeking an apprenticeship would be to persist with the training. Even though the first year of the apprenticeship wage seems low, keep going, the rewards come quickly by year 2 and also upon qualification.

Jack, First Year Apprentice

First year apprentice, Jack, has wanted to be an Electrician all his life. Jack came to CWE after hearing really great things from a fellow course member who is currently a level 3 apprentice at our company.
Jack enjoys all elements of the NVQ from practical to theoretical study. Jack would recommend an apprenticeship in electro technical, he says ’I enjoy working with Electricians, I learn a lot’ and he would particularly recommend completing your apprenticeship at CWE.

It’s been another busy Friday here at CWE towers filled with presentations, meetings and lots of crucial tea making.

A few weeks ago, two members of our Leadership team, Rachel and Gavin, headed over to Croesyceiliog School in Cwmbran to discuss career options with the current year 11 students.

At first, speaking to approximately 270 students seemed to be quite daunting for our duo, however with the positive response from the students and help from Liz at Golley Slater, the presentation went without a hitch.

The presentation looked at three different aspects of seeking out an apprenticeship. Firstly, Dean Stephens from our training provider, Coleg QS, took to the stand to discuss the academic side of apprenticeships and how to obtain funding. Our very own Gavin Cook went on to discuss his time as an apprentice and the journey he went on as a school-leaver into his time working and training with CWE. Finally, Director Rachel Kendall went on to discuss the history behind the CWE apprenticeship scheme and the career options that are available in both the electrical and administration departments.

It was a great morning, with really positives outcomes which resulted in a number of enquiries from potential new students.

We would like to thank Golley Slater for involving us in this Welsh Government project; it has been really humbling being able to speak to the students and hopefully inspire their future career options. We would also like to say a big thank you to Dean and the team at Coleg QS for taking the time to attend and give a presentation with us. Also, a big thank you to Gavin and Rachel for sharing their stories of CWE with students.

On Monday, Rachel will be speaking in a panel discussion for the Capita Conference for Apprenticeships and Traineeships in the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff. Rachel, alongside representatives from BT and Deloittes will be looking at the different business models of SME’s and Large-Macro businesses and their different perspectives on the growth and expansion of Apprenticeship programmes.

Apprenticeships and learning have always been a passion of CWE’s and they are values that are ingrained into the company culture. I think Abraham Lincoln says it best, “The best way to predict the future, is to create it”, definitely words we live by here at CWE.

Reflecting back on the last 12 months we have had an amazing year here at CWE Towers.  2016 has been a prosperous year with many achievements and accolades.

We started the year with excitement and anticipation of our company’s 30^th birthday and what better way to start than with our accreditations for ISO 9001 in Quality Management and 14001 in Environmental Management. For years we have ‘banged our drum’, so to speak, about being the best at what we do and the services we provide, but I must say, there is an incredible feeling knowing an international standard agrees with you. This was our second year being a part of the ISO family and it is a real badge of honour for our company, one we wear with pride.

As the year went on we attained a number of endorsements and accreditation due to our ever growing reputation. We became a Premier Partner with Hyfire, ADSA approved automatic door installers, and a Fire Industry Association member but to name a few.

The highlight of the year was our trip to Llandudno and winning ‘Small Business of the Year’ award at the Apprenticeship Awards Cymru 2016. Receiving recognition from the Welsh Government and National Training Federation of Wales was something very special for us and thirty years in the making. As an added bonus, we got to meet the ‘Go Compare!’ Man, Wynne Evans, as well.

There are a many number of exciting things happening already in 2017, starting with our Director Rachel speaking at a Capita Conference Panel discussing the influences of Apprenticeships in companies in Wales and this is shortly followed by Gavin, starting our ‘get an apprenticeship’ campaign by speaking at his local comprehensive school.

You will also want to keep your eyes peeled, as next week we have a massive announcement coming …….

So to sum up, cheers to 2016, it was a good one! And hello to 2017, we look forward to what you have in store for us.

#Holdontoyourhats #watchthisspace

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the #CWE Elves! Remember our main offices will be closed today at 4pm until Tuesday 3rd January, but please remember our emergency engineers are on call 24/7 across the entire holiday period so please don’t hesitate to call the mainline number should you require assistance!