This National Apprenticeship Week 2026, we would like to shine a light on some of our apprentices at Churches.
Apprenticeships can provide a great opportunity to get into the fire and security industry but can also provide opportunity for our team to upskill or move into a new role through training. With a growing demand for skilled workers within the industry, we understand the importance of training the next generation.
Ipia Chowdhury
‘’I am doing a Level 3 HR apprenticeship, this really helps me to develop my fundamental skills and embrace new ideas and approaches for successful People Management, covering a plethora of aspects of HR. This supports me and my team by building knowledge, making space for creative thinking, and putting learning into practice to support the business as a whole.
My ambition is to be a HR professional with abundant knowledge, skills and experience that allow me to assess the foundations of a company’s HR all the way to forming long-term strategies for People Management.’’
Providing Further Development Opportunities
We are proud to have our very own Churches Training Academy with a dedicated team. Through this Academy, our team train people new to the industry as well as growing the skills of existing team members.
Having multi-skilled technicians is one of the many ways that we provide our customers with outstanding customer service, and we find that growing our technicians’ skills through the Academy and implementing on site learning, shadowing experienced technicians is a successful way to do this.
Additionally, we have a dedicated compliance team who work hard to ensure that all members of our team are up to date with the latest compliance and regulations within the industry. In 2025, 9,226 courses were completed by our teams across the UK and Ireland. Of these, 160 of these courses were FIA training courses, allowing our team to provide the best possible advice to our customers on the fire safety and security of their properties.
Danielle Coombs
‘’ I am enrolled in the Level 4 Improvement Practitioner Apprenticeship, due for completion in November 2026. This qualification aligns with my role and future ambitions, by comparing data and focusing on process improvement, efficiency, waste reduction and sustainable organisational knowledge. I see myself in 2 years’ time is working on processes improvement to reduce manual work and implement tools that will help speed up jobs and productivity. I wanted to do an apprenticeship to strengthen my knowledge and skills in the workplace, this one best suited my interests.’’
Currently, we have five apprentices across the business who are undertaking a diverse range of qualifications designed to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to build successful long-term careers. Each apprentice is engaged in applied, on-the-job learning within their respective teams at Churches, allowing them to develop hands-on experience in a real working environment. This is complemented by external training and formal study, ensuring a balanced approach that combines practical application with theoretical learning. Together, this structured development pathway is helping our apprentices build a strong professional foundation and prepare for future growth and success within the organisation and beyond.
