Covéa takes on eight staff from apprentice scheme

Covéa Insurance plans to extend its apprenticeship programme after taking on eight full-time staff from the scheme at its Halifax and Reading offices in the last year.

The apprenticeship scheme, which is run in conjunction with local sixth form colleges, requires candidates to undertake a 12-week training programme.

Candidates gain an insight across all departments as well as an NVQ in financial planning or customer service and the insurance industry’s FIT test.

The scheme in Reading is run in partnership with West Berkshire Training Consortium and has had two apprentices join in each intake year. The Halifax scheme, which is run in conjunction with Calderdale College, has recently offered full-time positions to the first four people to take part in the scheme.

Covéa Insurance claims director Adrian Furness said: “Our employment strategy has developed to respond to the changing situation around tuition fees. We think there will be more young people looking for on-the-job learning opportunities so as to avoid decades of student debt. We look forward to bringing more young people into the business over the coming years.”