2020 was a difficult year for everyone. With significant changes to the way we live and work, there are several ways that this has affected businesses and individuals.

MVIS and Bartco UK have always prioritised the mental health of their team. However, during the pandemic, we have gone above and beyond in helping our team make it through such an unusual year by offering a support in a variety of ways.

Earlier in 2020 we covered how MVIS and Bartco UK’s Commercial & Operations Director, Anne Ashman, ensured that staff were supplied with Work from Home Care Packages, along with the wide range of policies and procedures she has put in place this year to help keep our staff safe and to help our organisation better adjust to the new working conditions.

However, as this situation continues, our measures for support must adapt to the long-term conditions we find ourselves in. At this point, we understand that short term measures are not enough, and we must look at ways we can support our team over the long term.

One of the long terms aspects to have suffered especially as a result of working from home is the ability for our team to chat as a group freely about concerns or troubles they may be having whilst on breaks or in an office conversation.  

This level of conversation plays a vital part in our employee’s mental and social wellbeing and whilst we do have daily briefings with the whole team, the briefings have a large work focus, which, is obvious to note, not the most appropriate environment to be discussing personal matters.

Even our departmental conversations, which are usually a smaller audience and potentially a chance to discuss worries can be limiting as well, with staff only receiving one or two perspectives on a problem, whereas in the office they would have the benefit of our whole team’s life experience to help them with their issue.

Leaving such an eventful and traumatic year behind us, it is more important than ever that our team feel supported. As a result, we have identified this potential for long term social isolation amongst our staff and have put in place a solid solution to help combat this.

By employing Peninsula’s services, we have a well-rounded approach to our team’s wellbeing. However, an additional service we have sought out at the end of 2020 is the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

Peninsula’s EAP services help our team overcome their toughest life challenges and deliver their best every day. It includes 24/7 telephone advice, face-to-face counselling and a suite of online and mobile tools to help staff stay happy and healthy.

According to the Peninsula website, an EAP can “reduce mental health related absence levels by as much as 45% and improve productivity by as much as 8%.” But more importantly, “it helps protect your staff.”

Already we have had reports of our team finding this helpful.

One member of staff commented, “Having just bought and moved to my first home a few weeks ago, I have a lot of things on my mind. The EAP has been a big support, especially recently through a highly stressful period. They have given me sound, professional legal advice that has helped me make important decisions in a way that best suits me and my future, as I take this very big first step towards my independence.”

She continues, “Over the years, my colleagues at MVIS and Bartco UK have been one of my key points of support in life. However, this year, it has been harder to discuss personal matters, as the distance between us limits such conversation that would have been straightforward if we weren’t working form home. Video calling with a non-work problem is very different to a casual conversation in the office, and whilst the EAP is no replacement for the camaraderie we built in the office, it ensures that we are getting the very best advice at all times, which may even make it better in some ways!”

At MVIS / Bartco UK, we believe that quality starts with our staff and therefore we like to ensure that each member of our team is fully trained in order to provide our customers with the highest service possible. With this in mind, we like to embrace all achievements our team earn and do not shy away from a congratulations! 

Since joining us in mid-2019, Bartco UK’s two newest recruits have been on several training courses including manual handling and safety inductions, with their most recent earned qualification being their forklift training.

Liam Griffiths and Jacob Spencer have received certification from KMT training solutions following the completion of a forklift course earlier on in the year, luckily just before the lockdown. Courses like these do not only improve our team’s knowledge within the business, but it also strengthens their skill set which can be taken with them through advancements of their career in the future.

Professional development is key to striving within this industry, as it allows us to offer our customers the best production and maintenance services – something that we are proud to be able to promote as the number one VMS distributor in the UK. Investing time and effort into our employees ensures continuous staff and company development and progression that we can, at least in part, attribute our growth to.   

After joining our team, Liam and Jacob have been progressing their skills both in house and externally to be fully qualified to deliver the highest quality service through all jobs within our workshop. Daily, the team are working on refurbished units and new builds in order to meet the needs of our customers as well as performing maintenance checks on units.

But Bartco UK aren’t the only ones pushing an agenda of staff development. Since her promotion to Marketing Assistant for MVIS last year, Tillie Woolliscroft has undergone a significant amount of training.

This training is advancing Tillie’s skills in the field of marketing, equipping her with specialist knowledge that helps her increase her productivity and effectiveness in her new role. Tillie’s commitment to her job has seen her been awarded Employee of the Month twice in 2020 already, with her skills and experience only getting better.

Likewise, the whole MVIS team have undergone upskilling in recent months in the form of digital communications. Whilst some of our team were already proficient in digital communications,however many members haven’t had need to use corporate communication tools such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom before.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, both the MVIS and Bartco UK workforce have been required to understand how to use this technology in order to continue working. In true MVIS / Bartco UK fashion, the whole team adapted seamlessly, allowing for a new era of working processes for the group.

Despite the two company’s continuous support, training can only go so far and without the dedication of our team to their work, their colleagues and their safety, the group wouldn’t be the great example of success with staff development and retention that it is today.   

As an employer that highly values our apprentices, we are taking the opportunity during National Apprenticeship Week 2020 to shine a spotlight on the members of our team who have come to us as apprentices over recent years and celebrate what they have achieved since. MVIS and sister company Bartco UK boast an impressive record of staff retention, and few areas demonstrate this as well as the retention rates in our apprentices, with all but one who has entered our doors over the years choosing to stay with us.

Our longest standing apprentice, Dom Bridge came to MVIS all the way back in 2013 and has since progressed to play an integral part in our organisation as Assistant Operations Manager. Dom’s daily role sees him managing the operations team, making sure that products are quality approved, delivered and deployed to clients in a timely manner for their project’s success. Due to the importance of his role, Dom works closely with the MVIS management team, reporting on vital figures and planning ahead to ensure that our resources are allocated effectively to meet our customer’s present and future needs. Dom also played a central role along with the management team to achieve our ISO Integrated Management System, helping MVIS obtain accreditations (and then recertifications) in ISO 45001 Health and Safety, ISO 9001 Quality and ISO 14001 Environmental Management. On top of this, Dom also recently took a leading role in MVIS passing the Achilles accreditation. 

Next to start the organisation as an apprentice was Rebecca Prince, who joined Bartco UK as a Business Administration apprentice in 2015 and quickly progressed in the company to her current role as Purchasing and Stock Control Supervisor. Bec’s role within the organisation helps to keep things moving smoothly, ordering stock and components that facilitates the manufacture of our products. As a highly capable, reliable and diligent member of staff, it seems only fitting that Bec now supervises an apprentice herself, Pip Wood, as she completes her apprenticeship.

Shortly after Bec, George Sheldon also started at Bartco UK in 2015 after studying electrical engineering. George has since completed his apprenticeship in 2019, seeing him progress within the company to the role of Workshop Technician. His day to day activities see him producing and refurbishing our units, as well as preparing them to be delivered to customers. George’s already extensive knowledge has grown as a result of additional training courses he has undertaken during his time at Bartco UK, offering him the chance to develop his career skills. George has a lot to take pride in with regards to his apprenticeship, being named as a finalist in the 2018 Learning Unlimited Advanced Apprentice of the Year category.

Tillie Wolliscroft joined MVIS in 2016 as an apprentice with previous experience in customer service, putting her in good stead for her role as Operations Apprentice, working alongside Dom, as he also completed his apprenticeship. Since completing her apprenticeship, Tillie has advanced her skills tremendously, moving into the organisation’s newest department, marketing. Assisting Marketing Manager, Sean Brown, with the transition from agency marketing management to in-house management, Tillie has been developing marketing related skills such as graphic design, social media management, web development and SEO. Whilst Tillie has progressed enormously in the meantime, her apprenticeship is not one that will soon be forgotten, having won the Learning Unlimited Intermediate Apprentice of the Year Award in 2018.

Shortly following Tillie into the organisation was Cain Gregory, one of Bartco UK’s Technical apprentices. Cain has come on leaps and bounds professionally during his time here, with his first exposure to the company being through his work experience. We were so impressed with Cain’s talent and work ethic that we very quickly asked him to stay, with him joining our apprenticeship programme in 2017. As part of his role, Cain builds, repairs and refurbishes our units, making sure that our customers receive high quality and reliable products. On top of his apprenticeship, Cain is also busy training himself up in work related skills, having earned an impressive number of qualifications that include first aid, soldering, hand powered tool operating, fork-lift operating, health & safety awareness, working at height as well as his CSCS and Highways England Passport cards.

Pip Wood joined the Bartco UK team in early 2019 as a Purchasing Assistant, working alongside Bec in her role as Purchasing and Stock Supervisor. Under the supervision of Bec, Pip helps to maintain stock records, completing orders and monitoring that product components arrive with enough time for the production team to perform regular quality checks. Pip shows great ambition and capability in everything she does, quickly learning the intricacies of the role and proving a big help for Bec. Very much the ‘Bartco UK way’, Pip is also dedicated to her skills development, taking on fire warden and manual handling training during her apprenticeship.

Last but certainly not least is Bartco UK’s newest Technical Apprentice, Jacob Spencer. With a real determination to work hard and learn, Jacob is perfectly suited to his role with us, allowing him to stay busy doing what he loves. Despite his short time here, Jacob has already started upskilling himself, having achieved his manual handling qualification. Jacob looks forward to continuing to develop his skills set with the support and encouragement of everyone at the organisation.

It’s clear that both MVIS and Bartco UK have a successful history in recruiting, training and then retaining apprentices, testament to what can be achieved when employers take care of and support their staff. All the apprentices that have come through either MVIS or Bartco UK’s doors have been given the encouragement and space to develop their skill set, making them more proficient in their roles, but also giving them immense job satisfaction.

We cannot recommend the recruitment of apprentices enough to employers looking for hard working and dedicated staff who are working towards upskilling. But we especially need to shine a spotlight on this during National Apprenticeship Week.

MVIS and Bartco UK want to take this opportunity to thank our apprentices, both past and current, for all their hard work.

For more information about our apprentice programme, please contact us on 01629 580 570 or email sales@m-vis.co.uk.