We’ve always been a great supporter of the Apprentice Store over the years, as we love what they do, and as a socially responsible business we want to do our best to help young people get into IT careers. The Highlands has a massive IT skills gap and the Apprentice Store was created in 2016 by David Massey to train up and skill apprentices in areas such as cyber security, IT support and web development. This resonated with me, as a STEM Ambassador, and we’ve been keen to help the organisation as best we can over the years.

At Calico we know what we do well, and what services we don’t wish to offer. That means that if anyone approaches us for Microsoft 365 email services, or for certain types of website work, in particular WordPress related, then we pass people through to the Apprentice Store.

It was therefore a lovely surprise to receive an award from them, for the support we’ve offered them over the last year. The Bronze award recognises us for having made a contribution, by referral, of 25% of an apprentice’s salary. In the year 1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021, the referrals covered 374 hours of work. It’s great to see the impact we’ve been able to make and to be able to offer a trusted partner for our customers to be able to reach out to for help.

If you’d like to know more about the Apprentice Store and the services they offer, do have a look at their website, and be sure to mention that I referred you over, as I’ll be aiming for at least a Silver in 2022!

I’ve included some close up images below so you can read more about the award too. – Kirsty