Welsh CEO says apprenticeships give people holistic skills for successful careers

With students from across Wales receiving A-Level and GCSE results and thinking about their next steps, Scott Davis is a great example of what can be achieved through an apprenticeship. His career has spanned 25 years and has seen him grow from an apprentice to his current role of CEO at one of Wales’ largest engineering corporations, The Ethikos Group.

Scott’s vast experience in the industry has allowed him to reflect on the values employers look for when recruiting potential candidates. As an employer, father, and former apprentice himself, he also wants to encourage young people to explore the many options they have available to them after leaving school or for those looking to change career later in life including starting an apprenticeship.

From a young age, Scott knew he wanted to work in engineering and dived into a career after leaving school at 16. With strong GCSE results, many people didn’t expect him to follow the apprenticeship route.

“I enjoyed school and had really good results at GCSE level. It would have been a natural next step for me to continue in education and go to university, but I felt I didn’t thrive in a classroom-based environment, so my parents encouraged me to consider the apprenticeship route.

“When I left school there used to be a certain stigma around apprenticeships and they were often overlooked as a valid vocation. Some people wrongly viewed apprenticeships as a job for youngsters who weren’t clever enough for university, but this is not the case at all. There are probably some parents who still have misconceptions about the current apprenticeship programmes which is why as an employer and father, I feel it’s really important to promote apprenticeships as a desirable route into the jobs and industries that will help shape the future.”

Skills for success

Scott became an Electrical Engineering Apprentice at Shotton Steel, now known as Tata Steel. He worked in a number of different engineering companies before starting The Ethikos Group in 2017.

Although he learned practical engineering skills during his apprenticeship, it’s the wider skills he learned which really helped him develop as a person.

“My apprenticeship helped me grow from a teenager into a man, and the wider skills I developed are invaluable. You learn how to communicate from a young age; you may have just entered the world of work but you learn how to interact with stakeholders on all levels, colleagues, and people from different areas of the business. It also teaches you a great work ethic, having to prove your worth in a competitive environment.

“What’s equally important is to have mutual respect for other people, no matter their level or experience. These values have been instilled in me from a young age, and I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve managed to progress to where I am now.”

As a former apprentice himself, Scott is proof that apprenticeships are a viable route to a successful career path, he currently employs 18 apprentices across the three operating companies owned by The Ethikos Group – Delta Rock Group Ltd, Gilks (Nantwich) Ltd and Print-Tech Solutions Ltd.

“At Ethikos, we’re always looking to invest in new talent. We’re not looking for any particular individual, as long as they have a positive attitude, everything else will fall into place. We can teach them skills which are moulded to our business and industry’s needs. My experience as an apprentice has definitely made me appreciate their value.

“Wales is a country full of prosperous SMEs and we need to take responsibility to train the next generation. For companies like ours, we’re creating the engineers of tomorrow, and I think there’s a moral obligation, as well as business need, for us to secure the future skills needed for the industry to succeed.

“We’re living in a very different world now. Young people are so much more digitally adept, but we are still in need of people with those core trade skills – apprenticeships can train people on-the-job and future-proof our core industries.”

Plenty of options

At a time where many young people across Wales are beginning to think about the road ahead, or when people may also be thinking about changing career, an apprenticeship could be the perfect step towards a rewarding and successful career.

There are a variety of options available, and according to Scott, young people need to get the right support during this time and explore all pathways.

“I’m a father of three children, my eldest has just finished university and my second is waiting for his GCSE results. Although I’m an advocate for apprenticeships, I’ve encouraged them to consider all options.

“I can speak as an employer, as a former apprentice, and as a parent. An apprenticeship is definitely an avenue people should consider – if a person has the right attitude and work ethic, it will set them up to thrive in their future career.

“More than ever, youngsters need to be surrounded by people who inspire them to do well and to introduce them to the range of opportunities out there, including apprenticeships. Results days are just a moment in time, I’d encourage parents to motivate their children and to show them that if they set their minds to it, they can achieve anything. The world is their oyster.”