Pendennis makes Top 100 Apprentice Employers list 2024 for third consecutive year

For the third consecutive year Pendennis has been listed in the Department for Education’s Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers – a fantastic reflection of our commitment to maintaining world class standards of training and development through our apprenticeship scheme. We welcomed host of the Top 100 Martin Birchall to visit Pendennis and find out more about our apprenticeship scheme. 

At Pendennis, our award-winning apprenticeship scheme has now trained over 350 young men and women in boat industry jobs over the past 26 years. The scheme has been running since 1998 and continues to build the new generation of highly skilled specialised superyacht staff. The programme boasts a 90% retention rate following graduation, and just under one third of our current workforce has been trained by the Pendennis apprenticeship programme, with many progressing to senior positions such as project engineers, trade and project managers. 

We consider training an integral part of everyone’s career and we provide courses and education for all of our employees – all the way through to retirement. We even have a number of retirees returning as mentors, sharing their expertise and knowledge with our new starters. We embrace training as part of the core DNA at Pendennis.

Every year, we take on a new cohort of Pendennis apprentices. We receive more than 100 applications, invite over 60 applicants for tests with our partners Cornwall College, narrow those 60 down to 32 to interview with a team at the shipyard, and ultimately just 12 are offered places on our award-winning General Engineering Apprenticeship. Our apprentices are mentored by experienced tradespeople within the yard, in addition to time at college to develop their skills. 

We also encourage our apprentices to learn new skills by organising extra-curricular activities including sailing and powerboating lessons, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, industry field trips and more. Our apprentices attend careers events online and at local schools and colleges to discuss Pendennis apprenticeships with pupils and potential future apprentices. These initiatives help to develop our Pendennis apprentices into confident, well-rounded individuals. In addition, we take on two interns, two summer placements, two graduate scheme placements and approximately 35-40 work-experience students per year.

Pendennis’ consistency in mentoring and training the future generation is something we promise to continue for many years to come.