Express & Star

Ladder for the Black Country: Creative apprentice proves a hit

A businesswoman's positive experience from recruiting an apprentice has convinced her husband to take the same step with his business.

Published
Last updated
Tom Gayton

Lizzy Spicer runs Wolverhampton-based Innovation Creations, a specialist signage and graphics design company for vehicles.

When the business started to grow, she decided to take on a graphic design apprentice so she could train someone up in the skills she needed for her company.

She approached Birmingham based Creative Alliance, a specialist creative, digital and marketing apprenticeship provider which is a long term partner of The Ladder for Black Country which is supported by The Black Country Consortium.

Tom Gayton joined the team three months ago and is already proving to be a great asset.

For Tom the apprenticeship has been a life-changing experience. He said: “I’ve always wanted to work in the creative industry but thought I’d missed that opportunity as I am in my thirties. I had a lot of time to reflect over lockdown and decided to pluck up the courage and put all my efforts into landing that dream role. I discovered Creative Alliance via social media and was amazed at the number of creative apprenticeship vacancies. I got in touch, and they were very supportive throughout the process and helped me develop my portfolio and skills to land that dream role and I’m absolutely loving it!”

Lizzie's husband Paul runs LNP Sound, which provides sound, lighting, staging, projection hire for conferences, seminars, theatre shows and other events across the UK. The company is also based in Wolverhampton.

“We know there is a lot of potential in young people who are keen to get into the industry. We have seen how well Tom has done at Innovation Creations and can’t wait to grow our team with another apprentice," he explained.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.