AutoRaise has connected with PwC – administrators of Nationwide Accident Repair Centres – to offer support and assistance to any technical apprentices made redundant following its change of ownership.
PwC has made all redundant apprentices aware that AutoRaise is offering to help them find alternative employment in the industry and to hopefully continue their learning.
Bob Linwood, AutoRaise CEO, said, ‘When I saw that 540 staff had been made redundant, I was concerned that some of those may have been young people who were still in the middle of their apprenticeship. It therefore made total sense to try and contact the administrators and offer our services.’
He continued, ‘We explain to each candidate that whilst there are no guarantees, we will do our best to locate repairers in their area and establish if any opportunity exists for an interview.’
Rob Lewis, joint administrator at PwC which oversaw the acquisition by Redde Northgate of 77 of Nationwide’s 102 bodyshops, said, ‘Sadly we have had to make 540 staff redundant. We are making every effort to support those workers.’
Repairers are being asked by AutoRaise to contact the charity if they are in a position to consider taking on a partly trained apprentice. They can do this by contacting Jen Evans at jen.evans@autoraise.co.uk or by telephone on 0845 644 0339.
AutoRaise is also very mindful that the government’s furlough scheme ends soon and is asking any repairers that are faced with making apprentices redundant to make contact to help keep these young people in apprenticeships within the industry.
AutoRaise is the vehicle repair industry charity that exists to help ensure there is a sustainable workforce for the industry.
To find out more about AutoRaise, download the ARC360 podcast with CEO, Bob Linwood here.
