1 Sep 2009

Aon champions Apprenticeships

Aon is embracing Apprenticeships with the support of the National Skills Academy for Financial Services (NSAFS) in order to recruit relevant staff and solve training shortages.

The UK’s largest insurance broker has been trialling apprentices within its general insurance division at offices in Farnborough, Bristol, Leicester and Glasgow since October, as a potential solution to recruiting staff with the right skills such as servicing commercial and personal lines clients and working with insurers to obtain competitive premiums.

The scheme is being supported by the NSAFS, who helped Aon set the scheme up, access public funding and continue to provide ongoing support. Apprentices are learning critical customer service and sales skills in addition to the technical
knowledge required for their roles.

The ten apprentices who are involved in the trial are undertaking vocational training (NVQs) and studying towards a Chartered Institute of Insurance (CII) qualification at Farnborough College of Technology, the leading centre for the NSAFS in the South East. A key component of the apprenticeship scheme is a focus on job-specific skills and assessment. The apprentices at Aon range from school leavers to
university graduates.

Diane Armstrong, Operations & Regulatory Training Manager in Aon’s Affinity division comments: “The apprenticeship scheme gives Aon a chance to develop staff to ensure they have the right skills for the business. Feedback from apprentices has been overwhelmingly positive and their enthusiasm is motivating other staff to upskill with a number enquiring if they can be given the opportunity to complete an apprenticeship. CII exam interest and pass rates have also increased significantly due partly to the influence of the apprentices.”

Lauren Tolley, Trainee Client Manager at Aon joined the apprenticeship programme in October 2008: “I feel that the programme has given me a fantastic opportunity to gain experience, widen my knowledge of the financial services industry and earn while I’m learning.”

NSAFS is working with more than 150 financial services employers to help them source relevant training and devise bespoke programmes in conjunction with inhouse staff training.

Sylvia Perrins, CEO NSAFS, says: “A degree is not the only route to a successful career in financial services. The Apprenticeship scheme offers a chance to learn without taking on huge levels of debt that studying full-time burdens people with.”

NSAFS offers national centres of excellence in skills training and development, led by employers and in partnership with government and training providers to develop a workforce with the knowledge and skills they need to match the best in the world.

Notes to Editors:

1. The National Skills Academy for Financial Services is a registered charity which was created with the express purpose of delivering world-class education and training aligned with employer needs in the financial services industry to people of all age groups and learning backgrounds, helping them to prepare for and develop financial services careers.

1. The training of apprentices is being delivered by one of the National Skills Academy Financial Services’ providers in the South East, Farnborough College of Technology. Individual learners and organisations who are interested in finding out more about the range of financial services training on offer through NSAFS, should contact 0845 6182353 or by email to info@nsafs.co.uk.

For further information please contact Sarah Evans-Toyne/Tania Vie Riba/Saira Khan (Broadgate) 020 7726 6111 or email
nsafs@bgate.co.uk.