Apprenticeship award for Ipswich firm


A company which uses an apprenticeship scheme set up by Ipswich Borough Council has won The Apprenticeships 4 England Silver Employer award.

Fizzwig Designs was nominated in the small business category by it’s training provider WS Training and staff attended the awards ceremony last week. The award recognises outstanding examples of quality, best practice, innovation and excellence in apprenticeship delivery.

IMG_3738Council Leader David Ellesmere said today: “Our apprentice brokerage scheme with Papworth Trust was set up to help small local companies who had never taken on an apprentice before. It is great to see the positive benefit it has had for companies like Fizzwig Designs. The scheme is designed to create more opportunities for people to get on the jobs and skills ladder, particularly in the ICT and digital creative sectors. Jobs and skills is a key goal for us and one that is seeing steady successes. I congratulate Wendy and her team and hope more companies, both large and small, follow their lead.”

Wendy Cook, co-founder of Fizzwig Design, said: “Right from the start we have made our apprentices feel valued. They all know how what they do fits in within the company and we ensure that we involve them when we make decisions about the business. Our hope is that, through the apprenticeship scheme, we can build our workforce of the future. By offering a huge amount of support and taking the time to train our young team we are not only teaching our apprentices about sales and the sales process; we are also giving them life skills that will stay with them for the future. And, hopefully, that future will be with our company.”

The Council’s Apprenticeship Brokerage Scheme is being delivered by the Papworth Trust through the one-stop youth job centre, myGo.

Fizzwig Designs is based in Ipswich and was founded in 2006 by Wendy Cook and Mark Keable. (www.fizzwig.co.uk)

• Chloë and Paige talk to Mark Murphy at BBC Radio Suffolk about the benefits of Apprenticeships

• Paige Bellwood, Wendy Cook, Mark Keable and Chloe Jeffs of Fizzwig Designs with Ipswich Borough Councillor Carole Jones
• Chloe Jeffs, Wendy Cook, Mark Keable and Paige Bellwood of Fizzwig Designs with Ipswich Borough Councillor Carole Jones