Traffic at the Tyne Tunnels is up by a fifth since we switched to open-road-tolling – which has led to the recruitment of eight new apprentices – and vacancies for more – to keep pace with service demand.
During the last 12 months, we have seen a 20% increase in journeys and a cohort of new people join the organisation.
We have formed a partnership with Gateshead-based Access Training to train our latest apprentices, who are forging careers in human resources and business administration via on-the-job and day-release learning at Access’ training centre, on Team Valley.
We recently won ‘Great Place to Work’ certification, and currently employ data analyst, social media, internal comms, business admin and IT support apprentices.
Nicki Wood, Training Lead at TT2, said: “Apprentices help bring a fresh perspective to the ‘every day’. They are vital in creating diverse thinking in our workforce and bringing us up-to-date theories and perspectives through their learning at Access Training.
“With the launch of open-road-tolling, TT2 recruited over 80 new employees, and thanks to growth of the company and our positive experience of taking on apprentices, we have now added further brand-new roles to teams.”
Phoebe Armstrong, 25, from North Tyneside, recently completed an 18-month apprenticeship in HR with Access Training and is now an Internal Communications Assistant here.
Before her HR apprenticeship, Phoebe worked in a hair salon but when she was furloughed during Covid, she took the opportunity to pursue a career in business by completing a government-funded business admin qualification, which led her to go onto secure an apprenticeship with us, which she loves.
Phoebe said: “I wanted to gain a qualification in something I was interested in, whilst also gaining experience and knowledge of the job and being paid.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my apprenticeship experience from start to finish, it really opened my eyes to the world of HR and how an organisation works internally. I was encouraged to push myself out of my comfort zone on a regular basis and this has really helped to grow my confidence.
“To anyone thinking about doing an apprenticeship, I’d say definitely go for it! It won’t be something you regret.”
Access Training is taking in a new cohort of apprentices for their project management level 4 apprenticeship and also for the human resources level 3 apprenticeship in May and there is also an intake for the human resources consultant partner level 5 in April.
Kerry Burlison, client relationship manager from Access Training said: “Working with TT2 has been a fantastic experience and I’m delighted they have chosen Access to repeat the process.
“It’s very rewarding to see how the apprentices we recruited have developed their knowledge and skills, and how they have added value to their organisation.”