Nexus Nurtures Next Generation With National Apprenticeship Recognition

Nexus Vehicle Rental, the UK’s leading corporate vehicle rental provider, has been announced as a regional finalist in the 2016 National Apprenticeship Awards for Yorkshire and the Humber in recognition of its company-wide NexSteps apprenticeship programme.

The 2016 awards, run by the National Apprenticeship Service and now in their 13th year, recognise employers and apprentices from across England that can demonstrate how apprenticeships have made a real difference to their organisation and careers. The awards also recognise excellent businesses that grow their own talent with apprenticeships and apprentices who in turn have made a significant contribution to their workplace.

Nexus employs 108 fulltime staff at its head office in Leeds and has created 80 fulltime roles, including 25 apprenticeships since 2008 alone. It currently has nine apprentices completing contracts in accounting, customer service, business admin and IT disciplines.

Nexus actively works to foster a learning environment through the business, ensuring that all employees continue their personal and professional development through regular job-specific training, inter-departmental cross-training and external courses and qualifications.

David Brennan, (Pictured) CEO of Nexus Vehicle Rental, said: “We’re proud to be nominated as a regional finalist for this year’s National Apprenticeship Awards. The nomination recognises the hard work of our apprentices and the success of our NexSteps career development programme, launched last year to provide opportunities for young people from the local community to grow with us and become experts in their chosen field.

“By investing in our people we are able to continue delivering agile, quality services to our customers, while maintaining a sustainable business environment for our employees.”

Nexus’ bespoke, in-house career development programme, NexSteps, is incorporated into various areas of the business. Apprenticeships on the programme are considered invaluable to Nexus and are seen as a way to train rental experts of the future. Since inception, over 90 per cent of Nexus apprentices have been offered permanent employment.

In 2015 Nexus received the ‘Employer of The Year’ accolade in the BPP Professional Education Apprentice of The Year Awards. The business also actively supports Leeds University’s Spark programme, through sponsorship and director-level mentoring, aimed at helping business graduates start up their own businesses.