Seaward Wins Apprenticeship Employer of the Year Award

An electrical test and measurement company has been named one of North East England’s best providers of adult apprenticeship training. Seaward, based in Peterlee, has been crowned ‘Employer of the Year’ by MTC Training, which is a commercial unit of Sunderland University with responsibility for delivering a range of apprenticeship training courses to local companies. The achievement follows Seaward’s decision to invest in adult apprentices in recent years to help upskill its workforce, improve its commercial operations and retain staff. The firm, which has seen its investment in training the next generation of workers rewarded, currently has two adult apprentices who work as a supervisor in the dispatch department and a team leader. A third member of staff is expected to join the firm’s apprenticeship programme this April as part of their ongoing training and personal development. The annual MTC Training awards recognise the best apprenticeship employers across the North East who are helping their employees to develop industry focused skills. Sir David Bell, vice chancellor and chief executive of Sunderland University, said MTC Training works with some outstanding employees and added: “Seaward, which is relatively new to apprenticeships, has fully embraced them as a way of recruiting and training talent. So, congratulations and good luck in the future.” With offices also in Tampa, Florida and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Seaward currently employs around 174 people and is a market leading manufacturer of electronic test and measurement instruments used in a wide variety of electrical, medical, industrial and energy sector applications. Wendy Chaplin, HR officer at Seaward, said its important to invest in employees by providing them with training, qualifications and everything else needed to develop and fill existing skills gaps. “It’s brilliant to win this award, which recognises our commitment to apprenticeships and investment in upskilling our workforce. Our apprenticeships are gaining important new skills and developing their careers in a move that will ultimately help Seaward to become a better company and continuously improve its service to customers.”