We spoke to Julie Harris, L&D Business Partner in Operations and Early Careers at Premier Foods to find out what impact apprentices have made on their business. 

Why did you choose to recruit degree apprentices? 

We want to nurture young talent for the future specifically in STEM areas where it is more challenging to find the skills we need. 

Which area of the business do they work in? 

Apprentices work in Research and Development and in our factories in Technical teams. 

What do degree apprentices bring to your business? 

Apprentices bring a new perspective, robust challenges to ways of doing things and a diversity of thinking that we embrace. 

What advantages do degree apprenticeships have over other professional development schemes and traditional recruitment paths? 

Developing young talent where we can help them learn practical skills while they are gaining academic knowledge of their subjects through the university. We see them grow in confidence through their hands-on job roles and having to apply their new learning. 

What successes have your degree apprentices helped you achieve? 

Introducing different ways of thinking and approaches to problems have helped some specific projects and working with suppliers. 

Would you recommend other businesses to take on apprentices? Why? 

Absolutely, they are a great route into the business and really savvy students are switching onto the fact that degree apprenticeships can be the best of both worlds - university education and a real job!