Pendragon

Young people in the North of England living life in the fast lane thanks to  T Levels.  

Young people in the North of England are being given the opportunity to work on top of the range vehicles including Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Ford  and Jaguar Land Rover thanks to T Level qualifications.  

Leading automotive retailer Pendragon, which owns Evans Halshaw,  Stratstone and CarStore dealerships and represents 21 different vehicle  manufacturers in the sector, has recently taken on 10 T Level students on  Industry Placements.  Most of the students are in their first year of an Engineering T Level,  specialising in light vehicle maintenance and repair, although one is studying  business administration.  

Pendragon, which employs over 5,000 people across the UK, has long been  committed to technical education routes for young people, such as  Apprenticeships. They employ almost 80 apprentices in a variety of roles. 

Chief People Officer Lizzie Downes, said apprenticeships and qualifications like T-levels enable Pendragon to grow its own talent  and address the prevailing skills  shortages, it also gives young  people the opportunity to see  what it’s like to work in the  industry.  

“Offering Industry Placements is a  great way for us to give exposure  to our organisation to young  talent, early on in their careers –  and like apprenticeships, grow our own and feed our skilled talent  pipeline.

It’s important to us to provide opportunities for young people and we have  expanded our HR function to encourage talent development.

Lizzie went on to  say, “The feedback from the dealerships has been very positive. The young  students are really enthusiastic and willing to learn. It’s early days for them, so  we are making sure they all receive health and safety training in order to be  fully comfortable with the environment they are in.  

They are observing at the  moment, but they will be  given the opportunity to get  stuck in and work on  vehicles under supervision  giving them great practical  experience.”

Pendragon is in  regular contact with The  Manchester College, where  the students are studying, to  ascertain what they are  studying in a particular week  so they can make sure what  they are learning in the  workplace is relevant.  

Pendragon has also offered the students the  opportunity for paid work during the holidays to  broaden their horizons!  

Lizzie added that the company hopes once the  students have finished their qualification, they  will stay with Pendragon.  

“That’s the great thing about T Levels, they  give young people the chance to experience  the world of work, she said. For the students, it’s a toe in the water so they find out if the job  is what they thought it was and decide if they  want to work in this sector. 

I can’t see any reason why employers wouldn’t  consider hosting T Level students, given the  multitude of benefits to them and the young  people.”