From the Company

I am a Learning & Development Advisor and am responsible for ensuring that all our employees have a chance to learn and progress within the business, be it through e-Learning, internal courses or external qualifications.

Sofology has been working with NLTG for over 12 years. I would absolutely recommend NLTG and our relationship will only continue to grow in the coming years.

NLTG Apprenticeships have allowed us to build a more progressive workforce within Head Office. We branched out into offering an Operations 'Academy of Learning', with NLTG providing a number of different Apprenticeships to enable us to have a more engaged and up-skilled Operations function. Over 100 Sofologists have been through the NLTG Apprenticeship programme.

When you hear the word Apprenticeship you think 16-18 year olds but they are much more than that. They offer a range of people of different ages, different opportunities to learn and develop. For that reason, my opinion has changed 100%.

As mentioned previously we have developed an Academy of Learning for the Operations function at Sofology. We will expand this into Retail, and Head Office in the future will look much different. A more engaged workforce and more importantly a culture of learning will have landed within Sofology.

A study by Robert Half uncovered that for 5 out of 7 years running, the biggest reason for people leaving a job was not through lack of pay or monetary value, but due to lack of learning and/or development opportunities. A big enough reason in itself to invest in our people at Sofology.

I have already spoken with friends in other companies about NLTG and their qualities. Their dedication to learning, people and the task, is a massive positive for us as a company. No task is too big or too small and we have a real personal connection with the NLTG staff that has helped us land an Academy of Learning at Sofology. They have a proven track record and we are really looking forward to what the future holds in Sofology’s partnership with NLTG.

Case Study - Lee Darbyshire

As Inspections Supervisor at Head Office I found out about Apprenticeships through speaking to others who were already undertaking Apprenticeships with NLTG. After completing my NVQ Level 3 in Management, I progress to Level 4. Studying these qualifications helped me to become Global Inspections Supervisor, looking after all 6 of the Sofology depots nationwide.

I enjoyed the different types of tasks and assignments that were assigned to me, researching the different criteria and also the 1:1 learning aspect of the qualifications. Undertaking an Apprenticeship has helped me to offer advice and support to the depots, while also giving me clarity on a lot of things. It has helped me to become more confident in team management and to develop the thoroughness to see things through.

Apprenticeship:

Leadership and Management