Since 2012 Dearneside has invested in its future by taking on apprentices in its Manufacturing and Design facility in Sheffield.

Dearneside’s Managing Director, once an apprentice himself, decided that youth were the future and since then the company has taken on an apprentice every year. We have now committed to the apprenticeship program of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in Sheffield.

Dearneside Fabrication currently has three apprentices, all plater welders. Our original apprentices Josh and Jack joined the company in 2012 and both received distinctions in their first two years at Sheffield Engineering Centre.

An apprentice spends 26 weeks at AMRC to complete the first part of their vocational apprenticeship. Our first apprentice at AMRC even met Prince Andrew, and presented him with stainless steel Yorkshire Roses made by himself. A very proud moment for him and for Dearneside Fabrications Ltd.

Apprentices at AMRC complete level 2 and level 3 Engineering qualifications. Furthermore AMRC is also linked to the University of Sheffield, as well as big companies such as Boeing and Rolls Royce.

These links and the AMRC facilities provide huge benefits to the program, for example the links with the University means our apprentices have options to continue their studies. Josh is now embarking on his foundation degree in Engineering in September.

Our apprenticeship program has also been met with applause from our clients. We were awarded an Outstanding Contribution to Apprenticeships by Berkeley Homes Group in 2016.

With the company order book growing, and the success so far with its current crop of apprentices, the company has just recruited another school leaver to start at AMRC in September 2017.