West Berkshire Training Consortium nurturing talent at Beninca

West Berkshire Training Consortium (WBTC) works with local companies to facilitate apprenticeships and help people learn the skills they need to thrive in the workplace.

This often involves helping younger people and school leavers find their feet and give them the best platform to launch from when they begin their careers.

One company that WBTC work with is Beninca, an automated access specialist that sells gates, intercoms, bollards and more to relevant businesses.

Beninca’s UK headquarters is based in Plenty Close, Hambridge Road, Newbury.

Faith Elam is an 18-year-old marketing and business administrator from Thatcham who found her work at Beninca through WBTC.

She started sixth form but realised she didn’t want to spend the next two years studying, so she decided to find an apprenticeship instead.

She got in touch with WBTC to find out what apprenticeships were available and Beninca was recommended to her.

Faith said: “I wanted to do marketing, but there weren’t many marketing apprenticeships to do.

“WBTC knew that with Beninca, they would take me on and I would be doing a business administration apprenticeship, but they would also let me do marketing in the future.”

Faith recently completed her Business Administration Level 3 qualification after taking part in monthly WBTC training sessions over the past year

“WBTC were very helpful,” she said. “When we went in for our training sessions, it wasn’t just about our portfolio. It was about understanding business in general.”

Faith said that the WBTC training sessions really helped her gain career skills for the future, as well as put her in the best possible spot to pass her assessments.

She had studied business at school before, but she thought that WBTC would help any apprentice to learn it from scratch.

“We started from square one with the sessions, and the trainers explained everything that you needed to know over the year,” she added.

Alex Bamford is a 19-year-old sales representative from Aldermaston.

He completed his Customer Service practitioner Level 2 qualification in May 2021.

When he was 16, he left school and found an apprenticeship, but he soon realised the company he was working at wasn’t the right fit for him.

“With the next one I went into, I was very much keen on being somewhere that would treat me well, look after me and actually help me,” Alex said.

“Both WBTC and Beninca were great.

“They nurtured me amazingly and they have given me a lot of support.”

He found the Beninca vacancy online and then WBTC helped him through the application process.

He had a month trial at first, where he worked at WBTC completing coursework and assessments before he officially starting his apprenticeship at Beninca.

Alex said WBTC was great with helping him find his feet in the workplace, especially as a school leaver.

He said: “It was all done through WBTC first. They helped me through the interview and gave me lots of pointers. They helped me with my CV as well.

“I knew nothing about business.

“I was completely entry-level, but I was taken through everything.

“All the coursework and my portfolio, it still helps now.

“There are still things that come up nowadays that I have to deal with that I use.”

He benefited greatly from the one-to-one sessions that WBTC provided.

He said: “My tutor Emma was amazing throughout the whole apprenticeship. She would do weekly check-ins making sure I was on top of my work.”

Alex also noted that the consortium helped him learn how to construct formal corporate emails to clients and colleagues, something he didn’t know how to do before starting the apprenticeship.

He said: “I think the main thing is experience as well.

“I’ve now completed a course, got a qualification and I’ve got experience. It’s one big bundle.”