The John Lewis Partnership celebrated its recently qualified apprentices at a special celebratory event this week.  150 of its apprentices took part, coinciding with the National Apprenticeship Week.

Apprentices from across John Lewis and Waitrose attended, which was the culmination of a day of workshops and focus on apprenticeships, skills for life and ongoing learning.  The event recognised and commended the achievements of each apprentice that has completed a course over the past year, and highlighted the transformative value that apprenticeships bring to Partners’ learning and lifelong development.

Apprenticeships are part of the fabric of our brands, with information from the archives recording the first apprentice advert over a hundred years ago in 1908:  The Western Gazette of 10 April 1908: under the heading Grocery and Provision advertised a “Vacancy for well-educated Youth as Apprentice. Good class trade under direct supervision of principal. Live in. – For terms apply to Waite, Rose and Taylor, Acton LONDON W”.

And the fledgling Partnership offered three apprenticeships at Peter Jones in 1916 “to learn the Art, Trade or Business of a section of the Drapery trade”. The indentures were signed by the apprentice, a parent, and J Spedan Lewis.

Within the Partnership, there are expected to be approximately 700 existing Partners starting out on an apprenticeship this year – with courses ranging from butchery to data.  This allows the existing workforce to continually learn new skills and maintain life-long learning.

Additionally, the Partnership last year transferred £1.1 million of apprenticeship levy to 19 charities supporting care experienced young people as part of our ongoing commitment to Building Happier Futures.

A total of 77 apprentices were funded to complete apprenticeships, this has enabled their charities to produce more robust data and support their fundraising efforts and impact reporting.  The John Lewis Partnership has a target to transfer £2 million during 2024/25 from our levy to charities supporting care experienced people.

“The pivotal role that apprenticeships play in nurturing talent, and fostering skills for life was very evident yesterday (at our event).  

“While the apprenticeship programme is undeniably a catalyst for learning and development, it could still go further and deliver so much more.  We would welcome reforms to make training and apprenticeships much more flexible and relevant to our future skills needs. 

“For example, it would open up the possibility of a pre-employment course to help potential apprentices reach the required level to start a full apprenticeship, or pre-employment training for vulnerable groups such as those who are care experienced to support them into work.”  

Ceira Thom, Head of Learning and Inclusion and Belonging at the John Lewis Partnership