Phill Manson, Founder and Managing Director at PAASE Digital, an email marketing agency, has experienced first-hand the benefits that hiring an apprentice can have on a business.

Apprentice Liz Wright joined the Leighton Buzzard-based agency in May 2021 as a Digital Marketing Apprentice, as businesses were starting to return to office-based working. They have since taken on a second apprentice, Fern Gilks-Tanner, to support the company’s exponential growth.

Phill said, “I have seen first-hand in my previous company how valuable apprenticeships are for both young people and employers. Having people in the business who want to learn is a huge positive and is a cost-effective way for us to recruit and retain talent.”

He added, “We contacted MK College early in 2021 as we were keen to hire a local apprentice. Our office is based in Soulbury, and we are firm believers in supporting the local community.

“The College put forward a number of high calibre students for our consideration. Liz’s CV stood out as she had already got some experience and was keen to retrain in digital marketing.

“She settled in really quickly and was able to use the knowledge from her college studies and put this into practice at work, such as updating our website. Her feedback on the course has been positive and we have a good relationship with the College apprenticeship team.”

Phill added, “Having apprentices in the business has also accelerated the learning and development of other staff within the company, who have been able to get experience of supervising and line managing for the first time. The benefits really go right across the organisation.”

Phill explains that this is just the start for PAASE and hopes that they can continue to support students in Milton Keynes get their first step on the career ladder.

He said, “PAASE is a fast paced, growing agency with some fantastic clients, so we see this as the start of a long-term partnership with MK College. We hope that with the right support, we can help lots of individuals get a kick start with their digital marketing career.”

For more information on hiring a digital marketing apprentice, contact the Apprenticeships team at MK College on apprenticeships@mkcollege.ac.uk