Forresters is backing National Apprenticeship Week, which this year focuses on the hard work being done by businesses and individuals during the pandemic.
The leading intellectual property firm recently recruited their first apprentice, Louis Romagnoli who joined the human resources team. National Apprenticeship Week 2021 takes place from February 8th to 14th and focuses on the theme of Build the Future: Train, Retain and Achieve. The week highlights the amazing opportunities that an apprenticeship brings to employers, individuals and the economy, as well as focussing on the efforts made during the pandemic.
Louis, who attended Kings Norton Boys School and Bourneville College in Birmingham, said he was overjoyed to have secured a position at Forresters. “I was attracted to working at Forresters because they have been established for a long time, but their approach is modern and customer focussed. I decided to do an apprenticeship because I find it easier to learn by doing the job – an apprenticeship allows me to work and learn new skills.
“My family and friends were very excited and proud of me when I told them I’d got the position. I’m looking forward to bringing new ideas to the HR team, who have made me feel very welcome. They always make sure I know what I am doing, and they help wherever needed – they really make me feel part of the team.”
Louis is currently working remotely and studying to achieve his NVQ Level 3 in business administration. For many years Forresters has supported trainees as they work through the exams needed to become fully qualified patent or trade mark attorneys. However, this is the first time the company has recruited an apprentice. Beverley Northall, human resources manager at Forresters, said they couldn’t be more thrilled with the progress Louis is making.
“It has been difficult for Louis because he had a couple of weeks in the office and since then he has been working from home,” she said. “However, we have been very pleased with his progress and he has already achieved distinctions from his first two assignments. It’s his first job and we have really seen his confidence grow – he is a huge asset to the team.
“Forresters has always been keen to support and train young people, and we recently looked at how we could do this in other areas of the business. Dozens of patent and trade mark attorneys started as trainees at Forresters, Louis is our first apprentice and it’s something we are all very proud of.”
