Three men from the same family who began their careers in a Glasgow firm as apprentices told of their decades of joint experience after joining as trainees.
To mark apprenticeship week, Thales in Linthouse, welcomed Conservative leader Douglas Ross to meet the current apprentices and other staff at its Glasgow base.
Jim Peddie, 57 started as a technical apprentice in 1981.
Jim and his sons James and Andrew have between them 65 years with the company sine they all joined as apprentices.
He told of the variety and opportunities it has opened up for him
He said: “Since then I’ve worked on submarines, with electronics and in manufacturing.”
He is now a Work Cell manager having moved into management eight years ago.
James Peddie, 31 has clocked up 15 years, after he began in a four year modern apprenticeship when he left school aged 16.
He went on to a manufacturing role with optical tests and is now in charge of current apprentices as the firm’s Early Careers Manager.
His younger brother Andrew, 29, is a calibration technician.
He started work as a contractor with Thales and then joined on a condensed one year apprenticeship programme.
James said of his latest role: “The job came up and I applied. I know the scheme inside out.”
He said an apprenticeship has given him secure work.
He added: “When I left school a lot of people were going to university but many didn’t get jobs. Here you can still do both with the graduate apprenticeship.”
Andrew joined Thales when he was 20 after a spell in the merchant navy then as a contractor.
He now works testing the equipment used to test the products Thales make, in a quality control type role.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross met the staff and told of his support for apprenticeships.
He said: “There is still a stigma attached to pupils who take up an apprenticeship rather than going to university”.
Ross added: “Apprenticeship Week, for me, is about celebrating your achievements but it is also about inspiring the next generation of Scottish students to look long and hard at taking up an apprenticeship when they leave school.
“Because there is still a stigma attached to young people who take up an apprenticeship rather than going to university.
“In far too many schools and for far too many pupils, going to university is seen as the best and only plausible outcome.
“Which shows that we still do not value technical skills, as a society, as we should.
“We still have more to do to break this 20th Century mindset that exists in our education system about what is the best future for our young people – particularly for women and girls.”
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