5 February 2024
The Power of Insurance Apprenticeships …and what they mean to Ascend
Apprenticeships are vital to the workforce and growth of many UK businesses, with over 750,000 apprentices participating in an apprenticeship, in England, in 2022/2023.
Apprenticeships are seen as invaluable for attracting young, brilliant talent into the insurance industry and futureproofing it in an ever-changing world. Apprenticeships diversify the routes into a career in insurance and create social mobility for young people who may come from poorer areas or without access to contacts in financial services. They also lower barriers, increase awareness of the opportunities within the industry and allow for a broader talent pool.
At Ascend, our apprenticeships are a crucial part of the foundations the company is built upon. We view our apprentices as the guardians of our future, and our apprenticeships as a firm investment in both the longevity and success of our business - and the insurance industry as a whole. Indeed, we believe our investment in training and development is market-leading and provides a unique, dynamic environment for the future generation of insurance professionals.
We enrol all our apprentices into the Ascend Academy, a bespoke training programme incorporating both theory and live work for all apprentices - something we’re immensely proud of. We invest considerably in the programme, ensuring it provides a holistic overview of the insurance market.
We also have a ‘Leaders of the Future’ initiative, fostering and training promising employees to become the directors and managers of tomorrow.
Matthew Collins, Managing Director of Ascend, says,
“Our academy is unique. All our senior team are committed to investing time in our Academy programme, including the Managing Director. We take it in turns to lead morning training sessions for our apprentices, with real world work in the afternoon. In a modern digital age, we can proudly boast that our apprentices already know how to prospect, to develop a lead and to pick up the phone and effectively put forward our service and market propositions. All our apprentices are between 16 and 18 years of age.
By understanding this part of the vital customer service chain, they will be better brokers, claims negotiators and accountants, and we are instilling in them the principle that everyone plays a valuable part in both the client relationship and excellent service delivery.
Our apprentices also work with professional external trainers/sponsors and mentors, who guide them to become potential leaders and innovators of the future.”
Ascend’s aim is to have all our apprentices CII qualified and experienced in live environments across all aspects of our business, including marketing/sales, broking, claims and accounts/compliance.
We have also demonstrated our commitment to fostering new talent and building a team of future leaders 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.
Ascend is fully committed to its apprentices and our rewarding apprenticeship scheme, building blocks for the insurance industry of the future. As a company, we believe the power of apprenticeships will only grow and grow, as our apprentices, in turn, prove invaluable in helping our business to grow and to thrive.
| Our 2023 training achievements to date: | |
| 1 former apprentice appointed Operations Manager & member of executive management team | 2023 |
| 1 former apprentice appointed Development Executive Healthcare | 2023 |
| 4 apprentices joined the new Ascend Academy in 2023 | 2023 |
| 1 employee selected on the RSA “leaders of the future” management training programme | 2023 |
| Development of our Ascend Academy bespoke apprentice programme in addition to CII/AAT/Broker Assess implementation | 2023 |
| 40% of our team have now progressed/are in progression through our formal training programme | 2023 |
| 2,500 hrs CPD/training | 2023 |
Read more blogs from Ascend:
A day in the life of an Ascend apprentice Testimonials from our apprentices
