The Asian Apprenticeship Awards was launched in March 2016 to celebrate the talent and diversity of under-represented British Asian Apprentices, their Employers and Training Providers. Apprenticeships have been seen as a secondary route for British Asians with the perception that University is the primary way for leading a successful career. This correlates with the current representation of British Asian apprentices with the starts of 2016/2017 - that being 4.1%. The 2017 awards brought together cross industry and sector leaders from across the country supporting not just the event, but the cause behind it. With over 60% of our audience at C-level or Managerial level, there was a high level of influence in the room - a significant increase from 2016.Our awards fits into a larger discussion around Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) representation within the labour market. There has been a demand for diverse workforces, not just for the local and national demographic representation, but for the economic benefits. For the economy to thrive, diversity is key. Full representation of BAME individuals within workforces across the UK would be worth £24bn per year to the economy.Employers and Training Providers are recognising this and are bringing out initiatives to boost diverse representation. https://bameapprenticeshipawards.co.uk/2017-asian-apprenticeship-awards/

1. IMPACT REPORT 2017
IN ASSOCIATION WITH

2. @ASIANAPPRENTICESHIPAWARDS
@ASIANAPPRENTICESHIPAWARDS
ASIAN APPRENTICESHIP AWARDS
@ASIANAPPAWARDS

3. FOREWORD
Safaraz Ali
The aim of the awards is to celebrate and showcase the best of British Asian Apprentices and the people
that employ and train them. In doing this, we hope that we will encourage more young British Asians to
consider apprenticeships, and more employers to provide opportunities to benefit from the skills that
apprentices bring. Apprenticeships provide value for individuals, businesses and the economy.
There is a universal commitment in the UK of being able to extend opportunities for everyone
regardless of their race, gender or religion. In this respect, a number of government targets have
been placed to improve the labour market chances for all. These include increasing the quantity of
apprenticeships taken on by young people deriving from BAME backgrounds by 20% and increasing
BAME employment by another 20%, by the year 2020.
The Asian Apprenticeship Awards are all about doing something practical to make a positive difference.
We believe at least in a small way that we have made a difference and will continue to do so by
highlighting, recognising and celebrating apprenticeship success with both individuals, employers and
learning providers that support them.
We all recognise that for the success of businesses and therefore the economy and the country as a
whole, we have to be able to draw upon a skilled and motivated workforce. It is also clear that our
apprentices are vital to providing these skills. However, there are not enough of them and especially not
enough from the British Asian communities. Therefore, the challenge for us is how to address this issue.
Our aspiration is that the Asian Apprenticeship Awards will make an important contribution by raising
awareness, celebrating success and inspiring others.
I would like to make a special thank you to Neil Carberry, Director at the CBI for sharing his support for
the report and those who took part in the survey, without whom we are unable to recognise the impact
the awards have had.
Thank You,
Safaraz Ali (Saf)
Founder & Chair of
The Asian Apprenticeship
Awards
3

4. FOREWORD
The future of our economy relies on skills. Making the best of the many changes the UK is currently
facing – political, economic, social – relies on a skills system that works, with employers, providers
and learners all working together. And how well we do this will define the performance of the British
economy over the years and decades to come.
For too long, generally as well as in British Asian communities, technical learning delivered through an
Apprenticeship has been seen as the second choice. Yet we know now that many Apprenticeships deliver
better career outcomes than degrees from the best universities. And I am always impressed how many
former apprentices make up the leadership groups of some of the UK’s largest firms.
Apprenticeships have the added bonus of being much greater engines of social mobility than other
forms of learning – often taking young people at 16 or 18 from less well-off backgrounds and propelling
them into a career with a sense of purpose, and a good income.
For all these reasons, it is vital we celebrate the success stories, inspire firms to do more and sell
Apprenticeships to more young people. In a short period of time, the Asian Apprenticeship Awards have
done all three, with increasing effects. Our congratulations go to Isa, Safaraz and the team on the work
they have done, which is laying the path to many more great opportunities through Apprenticeships in
the future.
Thank You,
Neil Carberry
Neil Carberry
Managing Director of CBI
4

5. SUMMARY
not just the event, but the cause behind it. With over 60% of our audience at C-level or Managerial level,
there was a high level of influence in the room - a significant increase from 2016.
Our awards fits into a larger discussion around Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) representation
within the labour market.
There has been a demand for diverse workforces, not just for the local and national demographic
representation, but for the economic benefits. For the economy to thrive, diversity is key. Full
representation of BAME individuals within workforces across the UK would be worth £24bn per year to
the economy.
Employers and Training Providers are recognising this and are bringing out initiatives to boost diverse
representation.
The Asian Apprenticeship Awards was launched in
March 2016 to celebrate the talent and diversity of
under-represented British Asian Apprentices, their
Employers and Training Providers.
Apprenticeships have been seen as a secondary route
for British Asians with the perception that University
is the primary way for leading a successful career.
This correlates with the current representation of
British Asian apprentices with the starts of 2016/2017
- that being 4.1%.
The 2017 awards brought together cross industry and
sector leaders from across the country supporting
Key findings were:
• Awareness of stigma attached to apprenticeships within British Asian communities has
risen
• More organisations are taking on apprentices with a focus on recruiting from diverse
backgrounds
• Government focus on increasing apprentice numbers from BAME backgrounds is now
more known but still a lot of work to be done
• A collaborative approach needs to be taken to address BAME diversity in the work force
and perception of apprenticeships
5

6. 2017 JUDGES
STEVE LAWRENCE
SHARON WALPOLE
ROB GEORGE SHAZIA AWAN ABDUL SHAKUR OLGA BOTTOMLEY
KAVITA OBEROI SANNA SHABIR
STEPHEN RAM
KISSUN
NINDER JOHAL LINDSAY MCCURDY
SHEIKH BILAL
KHAN
6

7. 2017 AMBASSADORS
ABDUL ALIM
WAHEED SALEEM
SANJEEV OHRI JASON PHIN KAM PENGLIN KHALID ALI
PAUL EELES PAUL THOMAS SALLY EAVES
DR NEIL BENTLEY STEWART SEGAL JOANNE ICETON
7

8. 2017 SPONSORS
MEDIA PARTNERS
EVENT SUPPORTERS
CHARITY PARTNER
8

11. WINNERS - APPRENTICES &
EMPLOYERS
Naila Bibi (Aspire Housing)
FINANCIAL, LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
APPRENTICE EMPLOYER
SPONSORED BY :
Sociètè Gènèrale
SPONSORED BY :
Neelam Rahman (Spamedica)
APPRENTICE EMPLOYER
Derbyshire Care Services
HEALTH, MEDICAL & SOCIAL CARE
SPONSORED BY :
CONSTRUCTION
Mehreen Ayub (Admiral
Recruitment)
APPRENTICE EMPLOYER
Sparkbrook Pharmacy
RETAIL, HOSPITALITY & TOURISM
SPONSORED BY :
Arandeep Pannu (Wolverhampton
Council)
APPRENTICE EMPLOYER
Barnardo’s ETS Yorkshire
CHARITY, VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS & PUBLIC
SERVICES
Deve Shokar (DMA Mechanical & Air
Conditioning)
CONSTRUCTION
K10 Apprenticeships
SPONSORED BY :
Kiran Samra (Rolls-Royce)
ENGINEERING AND MANUFACTURING
APPRENTICE EMPLOYER
SPONSORED BY :
Siemens
APPRENTICE EMPLOYER
11

12. Asif Rahman (DigiLab)
CREATIVE AND DIGITAL
APPRENTICE EMPLOYER
SPONSORED BY :
BT Group PLC
Asad Ali (Certas Energy UK)
TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS
APPRENTICE EMPLOYER
Euro Car Parts
SPONSORED BY :
SCHOOL OR ACADEMY OF THE YEAR
Cardinal Newman Secondary School
Market Street Health Group
Ryder
Nova Training
Sue Husband
Naila Bibi (Aspire Housing)
SPONSORED BY :
SMALL MEDIUM EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY :
LARGE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
SPONSORED BY :
LEARNING PROVIDER OF THE YEAR
OVERALL CONTRIBUTION TO APPRENTICESHIPS
APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR 2017
SPONSORED BY :
SPONSORED BY :
SPONSORED BY :
“The standard and quality of applications were very high this year. Reading the
applications, you get to see some of the appetite these apprentices have. You have to
think about the bigger picture and it really sets out the future for our economy in the
next two to three years.” - Ninder Johal
12

13. SOCIAL MEDIA STATISTICS
Twitter (@AsianAppAwards)
Facebook (@AsianApprenticeshipAwards)
680,000
Impressions
People Reached
Post Engagement
Retweets Likes
54,228
4,850
27,953
7,240
13

14. SOCIAL MEDIA TWEETS
14

15. SOCIAL MEDIA TWEETS
15

16. PRESS SCREENSHOTS
16

17. PRESS SCREENSHOTS
17

18. CONTEXT & BACKGROUND
This purpose of this report is to look at the impact of the Asian Apprenticeship Awards through a series
of questions which we asked to a sample of attendees.
The sample number selected was 150 people at various levels within organisations and covering all the
sectors which we used as nomination categories.
We asked our sample a range of questions that covered review on the event itself, diversity of
apprenticeships and some suggested actions for organisations to improve BAME diversity of apprentices
within the workplace.
18

19. CONTEXT & BACKGROUND
19

20. KEY SURVEY FINDINGS
20

21. KEY SURVEY FINDINGS
21

22. KEY SURVEY FINDINGS
22

23. KEY SURVEY FINDINGS
Awareness of stigma attached to apprenticeships within British Asian communities has risen.
Our survey showed that 75% of the audience had an understanding of the stigma attached to
apprenticeships within the British Asian communities. This was an 10.7% increase from 2016.
This year, we put in a lot of focus in marketing the rationale behind the awards. From conferences
to online videos, our team have been sharing as much information about the current landscape of
apprenticeship diversity.
In March and July 2017, Founder Safaraz Ali spoke at the Apprenticeships 4 England conference and
wrote about some of the current statistics of the British Asian community with respect to the nation at
large. For example, according to the latest Census, more than one in three (36.5%) British Asians are
under 15, compared with fewer than one in five White/Caucasian (18.5%). The 2016/17 apprenticeship
starts figures showed that British Asian Apprentices make up 4.2% which is lower that British Asian
population at 7.8%
In 2016, 98% of attendees understood the vision and rational behind the awards. To have 100% this year
shows that our work along with our partners has had significant impact in raising awareness of why we
are holding the Asian Apprenticeship Awards.
More organisations are taking on apprentices with a focus on recruiting from diverse
backgrounds.
With the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in April 2017, our survey found that employers began
to think about how they could use the apprenticeship levy to diversify their workforce. The key themes
of focus for employers when looking for diverse apprentices were: attraction and outreach, career
progression, retention.
Following the impact report we released in 2016 along with increase focus from Government, its
strategic partners and Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network, some organisations have seen an
increase in their diversity of apprentices with an average increase of 2 - 4%.
The Government has given targets for the public sector to improve on their apprenticeship diversity.
An example from our survey where strategies have been designed and implemented is with the Royal
Air Force who work closely with faith based schools, ethnic minority community organisations and
community leaders to push the benefits of apprenticeships.
In our survey, we found that some training providers have internal strategies for reaching out to those
from BAME backgrounds. In line with this, we found one large national provider, who have contractual
obligations with their employers to recruit from diverse backgrounds without any fixed targets.
23

24. KEY SURVEY FINDINGS
Government focus on increasing apprentice numbers from BAME backgrounds is now more known but
still a lot of work to be done.
Whilst nearly all our attendees knew about the Government’s BAME 20% by 2020 target for apprentices,
just under half those who took part in the survey believed that the Government target is actually
achievable.
It was clear that employers and training providers felt a disconnect with Government. Every employer
or training provider represents a different demographic of people and some felt that the BAME target
set would be hard to achieve in the geographic areas they cover.
A collaborative approach needs to be taken to address BAME diversity in the workforce.
Raising the diversity of apprenticeships within the workforce requires a collaborative approach. Key
stakeholders must be brought together to discuss, promote and implement strategies to attract talent
from diverse backgrounds.
Through our survey, we have identified the following key stakeholders:
• Employers
• Training providers
• Previous apprentice winners
• Trade bodies
• Community organisations
• Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network
• Institute for Apprenticeships
• Local community leaders and influencers
• Local and national media
Some of the suggested ways in which stakeholders could collaborate are:
• Promote winners as ambassadors for the awards and with partners in respective industries.
• Create social media collateral that stakeholders could use to promote the awards and its cause.
• Showcase the awards on national platforms such as the National Apprenticeship Awards etc. This
could also be through entering winners into other awards respective to industry. I.e Semta Awards.
• Showcase winning employers with good cases studies as best practise.
• Connect employers with schools and colleges where there is a high ethnic mix to share the benefits of
taking up an apprenticeship over the traditional educational route.
• Run or support localised campaigns to target diverse communities.
24

25. CONCLUSION
In the two years that the awards have been held, it’s clear that we have begun to achieve our rationale
of raising the profile of apprenticeships within British Asian communities. What we have seen is the
rise of role model apprentices who are championing apprenticeships within their communities and on
national stages on behalf of their employers.
We are now starting to get more clarity on the current outlook for apprenticeship diversity shortages
and some of the ways in which organisations are addressing this. The need for a collaborative approach
was recognised following the 2016 report.
An organisation called the BAME Apprenticeship Alliance was launched last year to provide a platform
for a community of organisations to discuss apprenticeship diversity. The Alliance will be liaising with
Government and those involved in the apprenticeship sector to share their thoughts, perspectives and
best practises.
From an events perspective, we do believe that this year has set a strong benchmark within the sector
about who we are and what we have set out to achieve. The night itself had strong cross-industry
representation and we firmly believe that it can only go from strength to strength as each year comes.
Part of the survey asked the attendees to share their feedback and thoughts on how to improve the
awards for the following year. All feedback has been taken onboard and we will be making necessary
changes and improvements to hold another successful awards ceremony in 2018.
The Asian Apprenticeship Awards team would like to thank the Headline Sponsor APM UK
and all category sponsors, the Judges and Ambassadors, our Partners and Advisors for
being an integral part in making the awards a success.
Going forward with the 2018 awards, we will be launching during National Apprenticeship
Week from 5th to 9th March 2018. Over January and February, we will be announcing the
new line up of Judge and Ambassadors.

26. ABOUT PATHWAY GROUP
Pathway Group is a workforce development solutions holding company. The Group, under its divisions,
manages apprenticeship programmes; training provision and funding outcomes. They are a prime Skills
Funding Agency (SFA) contractor delivering apprenticeship qualifications throughout West Midlands
themselves and through a supply chain in other areas of the country.
The Pathway Group have delivered various programmes across the region and over the years ranging
from Train to Gain, Youth Contract, various ESF activity such as Skills Support for Workforce, Skills
Support for Unemployed, Skills Support for Redundancy, Skills Support for Work Programme and
also English and Maths Qualifications. The subject matters being very diverse such as Cleaning and
Support Services, Health and Social Care, Food Industry Skills, as well as Team Leading & Management
qualifications.
Clients include voluntary organisations to small traders and national businesses, all of whom they
value with equal importance, as they strive to maintain the consistent quality and high customer service
standards that Pathway have become known for.
Find us online at: www.pathwaygroup.co.uk or call 0121 707 0550
/pathwaygroup PathwayGroup @pathwaygroup
26

27. ABOUT THINKFEST
Recognised for hosting ‘Simply Great Events’, We at ThinkFest are an awards and events management
organiser with a difference operating in niche specialist areas, and having a collaborative approach to
working.
With over 13 years’ experience in the industry, we pride ourselves on true partnership working with an
understanding of the “end in mind”. We do take things personally and of course offer professionalism,
quality, and credibility at the heart of what we do as well an innovative approach.
Currently, our team operates four annual awards: the Asian Apprenticeship Awards, the Adoption and
Foster Care Awards, the Intrapreneur Awards, and the Business Book Awards. We also operate one
of the fastest growing business networking brands, Pathway2Grow, and run the “Coffee and Natter”,
“Chutney and Chat”, “Samosa Saturday” and “Peer Meetup” formats, which host over 100 successful
events a year for business owners and professionals to ‘network, learn and grow’.
We believe that Awards are the single most effective means of inspiring excellence and sharing best
practice as well as creating more opportunities for those involved. We want to expand our reach and will
consider other market areas if the vision meets our values and we can we can add value.
We pride ourselves on professionalism and the ability to provide the best quality service. Unlike many
of our competitors in the awards industry, there are no fees for the judges. We believe credibility is the
most important element of our organisation and this is difficult to maintain where there is an exchange
of money.
We are seeking conversations with:
• Experts, Thought Leaders and Influencers interested in supporting our events as a Judge or
Ambassador
• Commercial teams such as media, marketing and communications where we can discuss sponsorship
packages individual to specific corporate agendas for increased and strategic exposure
• Results-oriented individuals looking to develop a new concept for a B2B event that has a basis for
differentiation and where there is potential for growth
Find us online at www.thinkfest.co.uk or contact Kasim Choudhry (National Director) on
07825 751 635 if you wish to get involved in any way.
/ThinkFestEvents ThinkFest @ThinkFest
27

28. Report written by Isa Mutlib.
January 2018
For more information, please contact Isa Mutlib at:
isa.mutlib@pathwaygroup.co.uk