Contact centre apprentices secure permanent roles

Thirteen young apprentices from Fusion have successfully completed an NVQ qualification in Contact Centre Operations.

The qualification forms part of the company’s nine-month apprenticeship programme, developed in conjunction with Sunderland College. In addition, because of their strong performance, all apprentices have now secured permanent positions with the company, commencing this month.

The Fusion apprenticeship programme aims to promote excellence in customer service, while enabling the apprentices to study for a nationally recognised qualification. In addition to learning how to handle a wide range of customer enquiries, apprentices have become involved with the company’s locally supported good causes, which include Marie Curie Cancer Care and Highfield Community Primary School. As part of their graduation, the apprentices met with Peter Winslow, the CEO of Fusion’s parent company, for a presentation ceremony and lunch.

Sarah Burns, Head of Site at Fusion Sunderland, commented: “Everyone at Fusion is extremely proud of our apprenticeship programme. Working in such close partnership with Sunderland College has been very positive and has given the apprentices great insight into the theory behind excellent customer service. Our first ever programme concluded last year and, following this, we took the decision to double our intake this time around. We are so pleased we did because all of our apprentices have performed exceptionally well – one member even achieved record sales figures, and remained the highest performer by almost double throughout the whole apprenticeship. As the group progress their careers with Fusion, we are all excited to see what more they will achieve.”

Dave Hall, Director of Work Based Learning at Sunderland College, added: “This is an excellent example of industry working in close partnership with the local college, in order to provide high quality employment and training opportunities for local youngsters. Contact centres are opening up more career opportunities than ever before, which is recognised with this professional qualification. Fusion has enabled our students to bring learning to life with its apprenticeship approach. We are already working together on ways we can enhance the next programme, which we will be launching in the next few weeks.”