Freight forwarder and logistics company Davies Turner & Co Ltd has recruited another 11 youngsters for its trainee programme – now in its ninth successive year.

The new recruits will learn all aspects of Davies Turner’s business during the two-year apprenticeship, with the hope they will progress into management and supervisory roles as with previous intakes.

During the company’s national trainee scheme, participants spend time in all surface freight, supply chain management and logistics divisions, as well as gaining an overview at Davies Turner Air Cargo, plus central administration, IT and the accounts department.

Davies Turner Group Chairman, Philip Stephenson, said: “Apprenticeships for young people wishing to follow a career in freight forwarding are firmly back on the agenda in the UK following the recent introduction of the Apprentice Levy and Trailblazer Apprenticeships.

“However, having launched our own apprenticeship scheme nine years ago, you could say that we have been ahead of the curve on this important issue.

“We have also played a key role as a founder member of a forwarders employers’ group, facilitated by the British International Freight Association (BIFA). This has helped develop the new Freight Forwarding Apprenticeship standard, approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships earlier this year, of which UK freight companies can now take advantage.

“Davies Turner’s trainee scheme is clearly thriving and we have an excellent retention rate at the end of each course due to our mentoring system and determination to expose trainees to interesting and responsible career opportunities at the end of the apprenticeship.

“An apprenticeship with Davies Turner with hands-on experience of our wide-ranging and multimodal freight services, as well as our international logistics operations, offers an excellent foundation in learning all elements of the forwarding, storage and distribution industry.”