Viridis taps into FVC apprenticeship talent

Viridis taps into FVC apprenticeship talent
Alicia Barrett

An environmental building services firm with an office in Falkirk has benefitted from taking on apprentices from Forth Valley College.

Viridis who are based in Newark in Nottinghamshire, England, also have an office in the Falkirk Business Hub in the town’s Vicar Street. They are experts in providing sustainable passive environmental building services incorporating renewable, low carbon and low energy systems to their clients, and they are marking Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2021 (March1-5), by showing that they have expertise in recruiting talented apprentices and students completing studies at FVC.

Alicia Barrett (18) from Falkirk landed a job as a Trainee Designer Engineer with the firm while completing a Pre-Apprenticeship in Engineering. Cameron Graham (22) is also from Falkirk and is flourishing as a Design Engineer at Viridis after completing his HND Mechanical Engineering at the College.

Alicia, said: “The Pre-apprenticeship/Modern Apprenticeship program at FVC was very helpful in finding me an apprenticeship. Given the current climate, I expected finding an apprenticeship to be a difficult and lengthy process, but the program made it a lot easier.

“The course has helped me get more experience in general, but also specifically engineering, as I had not had much experience with it before other than at college.

“The lecturers are also nice and helpful, and always happy to help. I have not been in the new Falkirk Campus building much because of Covid-19, but it seems like they have good facilities particularly with the workshop. I look forward to using them soon.

“The best bit for me is studying at College and working at the same time is like the best of both worlds.

“The advice I would give to potential new students would be, if you plan on getting an apprenticeship, the pre-apprenticeship program at Forth Valley College is probably your best option.”

Cameron, said: “At FVC I completed a HND in Mechanical Engineering, which first consisted of a one year HNC, which was then followed by an additional year which was the HND.

“It has been crucial to help me progress in my career as it provided a route both for me to attend university, and pursue my first job.

“When I attended College between 2015-17, the new Falkirk Campus was of course not built, but even with this in mind the College’s facilities were still good, and the practical workshops allowed me to complete a PE02 award in manual handling.

“All of the lecturers also had a very good amount of experience teaching their subjects, which added to the experience.

“I would recommend the College to other people interested in working in the engineering industry, as it provides a great stepping stone and pathway for someone coming out of high school to start thinking about engineering. It can give them the qualifications that they need to secure their first job - or particularly if their grades might not be good enough to go straight into university from high school - move onto higher education.”

Lee Marshall, Managing Director at Viridis, said: “We are very pleased to be gaining FVC students and to train the next generation of Net-Zero Design Engineers.”

Lorraine Kerr, FVC Business Development Partner, said: “Alicia has worked hard throughout the year on the engineering pre-apprentice course and she was absolutely delighted to secure an apprenticeship with Viridis. The engineering pre-apprenticeship has been running very successfully for four years now, and is a fantastic stepping stone for young people to progress onto a MA. Cameron has taken another route via the HND and it has also helped him progress to university and then to full-time employment which is great. It is very rewarding to see Alicia and Cameron and so many other young people progress into MAs and full-time work after completion of courses such as these.”

Places are currently available on the Pre-Apprenticeship in Engineering and more information on how to apply can be found at the FVC website 

Alicia and Cameron