Member Article

Pets at Home's Groom Room Employs First Apprentices

• The first cohort of Groom Room apprentices have completed their Diplomas
• 70% of the 14 apprentices have been employed by the Groom Room

In January 2016 Pets at Home launched The Groom Room apprenticeship programme, offering over 100 places to young people, allowing them to learn the skills and techniques required to become a pet groomer.

The initial cohort group of 14 candidates have now come full circle, completing their apprenticeship programme, with 10 of the group being given permanent employment as grooming stylists within the Groom Room.

The scheme sees trainee stylists work towards a City and Guilds Level 2 Diploma in Work-Based Animal Care (Grooming Pathway) and a Level 2 Diploma in Animal Care (Dog Grooming). Each apprentice completes the scheme as a fully qualified grooming stylist and the intention is to offer a permanent position within one of the 260 plus Groom Room salons nationwide.

Jo Fuller, Group Apprenticeship Project Manager at Pets at Home said “At Pets at Home we’re passionate about the development and training of our colleagues through every stage of their career, so the apprenticeship programme is a natural fit. We are proud to be able to offer opportunities for people to start a career where they will be given first class training, be nurtured and supported, with the offer of a permanent role at the end.

“In February our first group of 14 apprentices came to the end of their programme, and we are really pleased to be able to appoint 10 of those individuals into full time positions in our salons.“

Ellie Winston, 21, a current apprentice at the Gateshead store said; “I chose to apply for the scheme after leaving a call centre role I wasn’t passionate about and wanting to make the most of my love of animals. I entered onto the scheme with no previous experience and found that learning for an entire year whilst still earning money, provided the security and progression I was after.

My partner is an apprentice within the finance sector and we both feel apprenticeships are the easiest way to progress up the career ladder.“

The programme runs for a year and one day during which time apprentices will be required to complete internal training, which will include hands on experience and practical assessments.

The Pets at Home grooming apprenticeships are currently only available within England however there are plans to roll this out across the UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Amelia Peters .