It’s quite an achievement when a business can boast that almost a third of its staff are apprentices. But Quick Hydraulics managing director Andrew Esson is a champion of apprenticeships in engineering.
Since leading a management buy-out of Quick Hydraulics three years ago, the Aberdeen and North Shields company boss has continued to recruit new young people to the business and now has 10 apprentices among a 35 strong-staff.
Mr Esson started his own career as a graduate engineer with Weir Pumps in the 1980s and became general manager in 1996. But he recognises that university isn’t for everyone, particularly after recent figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) showed a 7% drop-out rate among students within their first year.
