Butchers praised for its apprentices

A young butcher from Llangollen shows how a small business can benefit from having apprentices, First Minister Carwyn Jones has said.

 

Twenty-three-year old Tomi Lee Jones is the shop manager at Jones’ Butchers in the town and is an apprentice himself since 2010.

 

Based on his experience of apprenticeships he is also training two of his employees, Jac Jones and Chris Roberts, through an apprentices scheme using support from the Young Recruit Programme, which is funded by the Welsh Government backed by the European Social Fund.  

 

Tomi is also VQ Learner of the Year 2013 and the Welsh Young Butcher of the Year 2012.

 

Last week as he visited the eisteddfod, the First Minister called into Jones’ Butchers to hear how the business is benefiting from having apprentices.

Later he said: "The success Jones’ Butchers has had with apprentices shows how smaller businesses can benefit from schemes such as the Young Recruit Programme.  Training our young people for the workplace is vital for creating sustainable growth and is a key part of our Programme for Government.

“The Young Recruits Programme was introduced to support apprenticeship training during the economic downturn and in 2012-13 we exceeded our target of supporting 2,000 places through this scheme.

“I am pleased to see the results of the scheme here in Llangollen, and to see young people successfully embarking on their careers.”

Tomi said “The apprenticeship allowed me to learn the skills I needed to do the job while gaining experience at the same time.  That’s why I wanted the rest of the staff to have the same opportunity so that they can learn the skills they need and be part of the business.”