History
Apprenticeships can be traced back to the Middle Ages to the medieval craft guilds, originating from the custom of upper-class families sending their children away to live with host families and by the Tudor period, apprenticeships were seen as an acceptable form of training. The first national apprenticeship system of training was set up in 1563 and most would last for seven years.
In the early 1900’s there were around 340,000 apprenticeships in any year. This continued to grow and after World War two to the 60’s a third of all boys were leaving school to start apprenticeships.
After peaking in the 60’s, apprenticeships started to decline, with half as many apprentices in employment in 1995 as there were in 1979.
Modern apprenticeships were introduced in 1993 and in 2004 the upper age limit of 25 was abolished. Apprentices had to be paid a wage and work a minimum of 30 hours a week. Between 2010-2015, numbers increased again to half a million.
Although some might say he was around in the Middle Ages, M.D. Andy Burridge started his working life as an Electrical apprentice at shipbuilder Vosper Thornycroft way back in 1981. In those days, the apprenticeship was four years long and included four years of day-release studying at College. At that time, with the Portsmouth RN Dockyard reducing operations and many organisations cutting back, there were very few apprenticeships around, so they were considered highly sought after. There were around 125 applicants for every position.
Andy’s apprenticeship was ship-based and included training on cable installation, installation of all types of ship electrical systems as well as periods working on the electrical systems of the shipyard itself.
Andy’s thoughts are that although it lasted four years, the apprenticeship was very thorough and gave a fantastic basis to start his career.
James Ferris
Newly appointed as Managing Director in 2016, one of Andy’s first tasks was to look into the viability of ARC providing an apprenticeship as he wanted young school leavers to have the same opportunity he was given.
In the same year, ARC Fire Safety & Security employed a very young school leaver called James Ferris. After an initial probation period, James started an apprenticeship in Security & Emergency systems L2 at Chichester College. This was supplemented by working with our Service division gaining daily experience in the routine testing and also fault rectification on commercial fire and security systems.
Fast forward to 2024 and James is now the company’s lead Service Engineer and is involved in looking after some of our most prestigious sites, including three cathedrals, a university and MOD sites. James is a real success story and we are very proud of how he has applied himself and the way he has grown, not only as an Engineer but also as a person.
Elliot Simpson
In 2024, history at ARC came full circle. Andy had a conversation with our founder, Alan Simpson who indicated his Grandson was looking to train for a trade. Elliott Simpson joined the company and impressed everyone with his positive attitude and working ethic. For one so young this is unfortunately becoming quite rare.
Elliott passed his probation period with flying colours and Commercial Director John Pearman opened talks with Chichester College again for Elliott to start an apprenticeship as a Fire, Emergency and Security Systems Technician L3. This is a three-year apprenticeship which commences in January 2025.
We are delighted that Elliott will follow in James’s footsteps secure a solid start to his career and get that trade he yearned for. We intend for Elliott to spend time with James who we know is keen to give some of his knowledge to the younger generation coming through.
The Future of Apprenticeships
We had a bit of a gap after James which was partly down to the pandemic and also a lack of suitable applicants coming through. We are determined to keep the momentum up with Elliott hopefully becoming the first of what will be an annual event. It makes sense to be able to train young engineers in not only the technical aspects but also the ways of the company. We already have a great trainee in Tommy Murphy who will hopefully be following Elliott in 2026.
Andy believes that there is no better way to start a technical career than with both the physical activities of carrying out the work under experienced supervision as well as the educational learning at college. In addition to this, we are also looking at the possibility of taking T Level students into other areas of the business such as Administration.
We hope this proves to be a permanent process now and look forward to educating many more young people in the years to come. To learn more about our apprenticeship roles, get in touch with our team at ARC Fire Safety & Security Ltd today!