Hovertravel gets onboard with National Apprenticeship Week 2019

This week Hovertravel joined in the celebration of apprentices with a variety of activities for National Apprenticeship Week (NAW 2019).

National Apprenticeship Week is coordinated by the National Apprenticeship Service and is designed to celebrate apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on individuals, businesses and the wider economy.

Hovertravel attended the apprenticeship open day at Havant & South Downs College, taking a team which included one of their current apprentices, a duty manager and the head of operations. This team was able to explain how the apprentice scheme works and the students were able to ask questions of current apprentice.

Shaping Portsmouth is showcasing some of the amazing apprentices in the Portsmouth area with a series of video interviews, designed to reveal exactly what goes on in the daily life of an apprentice. Hovertravel’s Jess was invited to be part of the series and her video will be available on YouTube. 93% of those who complete the apprenticeship programme are now place in full time employment with Hovertravel.

The company continues to see the value of this programme, not only from a reduction in recruitment costs, but also in the passion so many of these individuals have brought to the business as well as allowing the extra manpower to offer additional services to customers to improve the customer experience.

Hovertravel’s apprentices have had several notable successes including running a program of newly introduced excursion trips to the Hovercraft Museum, celebrating the very British invention of the Hovercraft but also creating a business case for a product that continues to grow today. The apprentices have also been deeply involved in initiatives such as HoverCare which is helping to make cross-Solent travel easier for all customers.

Hovertravel is a unique business which offers development opportunities for its apprentices that benefit the company and, just as importantly, provide excellent experience to advance the individuals’ future career aspirations, either at Hovertravel or elsewhere.