We’re delighted to welcome two new apprentices to the Travel Village Group team, continuing our commitment to creating opportunities for young people to begin their careers right here in Blackpool.
Former Blackpool Sixth Form College students Poppy and Liv have joined two very different areas of our business, with Poppy becoming our new Digital Design & eCommerce Apprentice within the Marketing Team, while Liv has joined our Care Team as a Care Team Apprentice.
Both are completing their apprenticeships with AS Training, combining hands-on experience within the Travel Village Group with the opportunity to gain a recognised qualification.
From the classroom to Travel Village Group
Our relationship with Blackpool Sixth has helped introduce both apprentices to opportunities within the Group, although their journeys to us were slightly different.
Liv studied Travel and Tourism and first became familiar with Travel Village Group after existing team members Amelia Bonney and Caitlyn Hurd, themselves former Blackpool Sixth students, visited the college to speak about their careers and experiences within the company.
When Liv’s teacher, Rachel, later shared the apprenticeship opportunity with students, she decided to apply.
Liv said: “I’d previously heard of Travel Village Group as Amelia Bonney and Caitlyn Hurd had come in and given talks about their jobs and the company, so I decided to apply.
“Once I got through to the interview stage, I thought it was a really good and easy process. Everything was organised and responses were quick, which put me at ease and said a lot to me about the company.”
Poppy studied Graphic Design at Blackpool Sixth and already knew that university wasn’t the route she wanted to take.
She said: “I knew I wanted to do something in the creative industry and doing an apprenticeship meant I could get a qualification and industry experience at the same time, so this seemed like a great opportunity.”
As part of her recruitment process, Poppy completed two interviews, including the opportunity to respond to a creative brief and showcase her work to the team.
“I really liked that the interviews were in person and I met different people each time. It gave me more of a sense of the people within the company, which was nice.”
Getting stuck into life at TVG
Now just over a month into their apprenticeships, both are already becoming familiar faces around the office and getting hands-on experience within their respective teams.
For Liv, joining the Care Team has meant learning an entirely new role within the travel industry.
She said: “This is completely different to anything I’ve done before, but everyone is so friendly that it’s really put me at ease.
“The office layout is great because if I have any queries, the person I need is just a desk away. You can tell why a lot of people have stayed with the company for so long.”
Poppy has also been settling into the Marketing Team, developing her digital design skills while learning more about eCommerce and the wider travel industry.
She said: “I’m really enjoying it. I feel like I’m getting into the swing of things and everyone has been really supportive.
“When I did my research there was a big focus on Travel Village Group being a family business, and once you’re here you really do feel that.
“I would definitely recommend doing something like this and joining Travel Village Group to other people if there are more apprenticeships in the future.”
Investing in local talent
As a fourth-generation family business with our roots firmly in Blackpool, creating opportunities for local people to develop their careers is incredibly important to us.
Apprenticeships give young people the opportunity to learn within a real working environment, develop practical skills and gain qualifications at the same time. They also allow us to bring new ideas, perspectives and talent into different areas of our business.
Seeing former Blackpool Sixth students such as Amelia (formerly a Travel Village Group apprentice herself) and Caitlyn return to their college to share their experiences, and then seeing another generation of students make the journey from Blackpool Sixth into Travel Village Group, makes that particularly rewarding.
We’re excited to see where Poppy and Liv take their careers from here.
Welcome to the family, both!
