Screwfix has launched a new guide to help tradespeople understand how easy it can be to hire apprentices, in conjunction with Jamie Hepburn, the Scottish Minister for Employability and Training.

Earlier in the week, Hepburn visited the Edinburgh Screwfix store to launch the guide, entitled ‘Your Guide to Hiring an Apprentice’, which is a free booklet and available online as well as in Screwfix stores throughout Scotland.

The national skills body, Skills Development Scotland, developed the booklet, and the group also contributed financially towards the cost of training apprentices.

The booklet was released by Screwfix in conjunction with the Minister in response to a study that showed tradespeople want more skilled workers through encouraging apprenticeship schemes, along with guidance on how to take apprentices on.

The free, easy to use information pack is intended to address a number of the myths associated with apprenticeships and given its small size, the guide will feature bite sized chunks of what employers need to know, from the benefits of apprenticeship schemes, to where they should go to find them.

The guide was released by Screwfix in response to trade customer feedback, with a number of carpenters, builders, electricians, plumbers and other tradespeople who took part in the Screwfix poll having little or no experience of taking on apprentices, with just 14% having employed one in the last year.

Screwfix Operations Director, Graham Bell, said that as a key trade supplier, the company is always looking at new ways to support tradespeople in growing their businesses, from making sure they get the right products at the right time, to addressing the key issues of the industry.

He added: “We understand how vital apprentices are as the future lifeblood of the trade, but it’s clear from what our customers are telling us that more needs to be done to simplify the process of hiring one.”