Ascend commits to ‘earn and learn’ by joining The 5% Club

Ascend Broking Group has showcased its commitment to developing its people by joining The 5% Club, an industry led initiative focused on driving momentum into the recruitment of apprentices, graduates and sponsored students.

The 5% Club is a movement of more than 950 employers providing ‘earn and learn’ opportunities to develop the skills and talents people need to become more employable and create meaningful careers. Companies joining The 5% Club commit to raising the number of apprentices, sponsored students and graduates on formal programmes to 5% of their total workforce within five years. Members are also asked to publicly report their progress in their Annual Report. Existing members range from SMEs to FTSEs and cover all sectors including engineering, transport and financial services.

Member companies now also have the opportunity to achieve accredited Gold, Silver and Bronze membership status through the annual Employer Audit.

The Club was founded in 2013, and during the 10th Anniversary year will continue to use its platform and record of success to engage with policymakers and influencers on issues of concern and relevance, specifically increasing awareness and activity that links skills investment with discernible social impact.

Ascend joined The 5% Club as part of their commitment to fostering new talent and building a team of future leaders. They already run a successful apprenticeship scheme and, in 2023, they consolidated their commitment by setting up the ‘Ascend Academy’, a bespoke training programme incorporating both theory and live work for all apprentices. They also have a ‘Leaders of the Future’ initiative, fostering and training promising employees to become the directors and managers of tomorrow.

Their training programmes have seen them nominated for the Best Learning & Development Award, at the 2024 CX Awards, to be held in February, and all new employees at Ascend are fast-tracked to study for their CII qualification.

Matthew Collins, Managing Director of Ascend Broking, said, “We are delighted to have become a member of the 5% club, furthering our aim of creating opportunities for young people and providing a dynamic environment for the future generation of insurance professionals.”

Gill Cronin, Director of Operations of The 5% Club said, “We’re delighted to welcome Ascend into membership. The 5% Club provides a fantastic network of HR and L&D professionals, sharing and learning from each other. All our members share an ethos of creating a skilled workforce through ‘earn and learn’ development programmes, helping people develop meaningful career paths.”

Ascend Broking hopes their ongoing training schemes and continuing investment in the tutelage and development of young people will provide great opportunities well into the future and looks forward to long-term membership of The 5% Club.