Airedale Service recruits its first-ever apprentices
Building the future of Airedale Service — the company’s first two apprentices are Shaun Woolacott (left) and Stuart Onyett.
Airedale Service has taken on its first-ever apprentices. They are Stuart Onyett, 19, and Shaun Woolacott, 17 — both of Kent. Their recruitment is part of a new grow-your-own policy adopted by Airedale Services. Adrian Trevelyan, Airedale service and maintenance manager, explains, ‘We have adopted this approach because of the difficulty of recruiting good services engineers where we need them and because we have to travel them into these areas.’ Unlike apprentices taken on in Airedale’s mainstream business, who train in the company’s 2500 m2 facility in Leeds, Shaun and Stuart will do most of their training on the tools with fully qualified Airedale service engineers on site. Besides on-the-job training, they will study refrigeration and air conditioning at North West Kent College on a day-release basis and also undertake internal training at Airedale’s training academy. Stuart Onyett left school at 17 with three A levels. After a string of jobs, he realised that none held any career prospects, so he attended an open day at Gravesend College in search of an apprenticeship. Airedale has also contacted the college and was put in touch with him, leading to an interview. Shaun Woolacott left school last year at 16. After a brick-laying course at Mid Kent College, he has decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a service engineer in air conditioning.
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