An award-winning Staffordshire entrepreneur who has been calling for an official digital device repair apprenticeship to be introduced has seen his campaign come to fruition.
TMT First founder Adam Whitehouse has been spearheading the push for the national qualification to help fill the tech industry skills gaps and extend the life of smartphones, tablets, laptops and other mobile technology.
Now a Digital Device Repair Technician Apprenticeship has been signed off by the Government and will be rolled out across the UK over the coming months.
Locally, it should lead to at least 40 people enrolling onto the new apprenticeship course at TMT, where it will replace the company’s own in-house training programme.
And as a nod to Adam’s key role in focussing the national spotlight on the debate, it’s being launched at TMT’s headquarters in Newcastle-under-Lyme next month.
It follows months of work with a range of partners to get the standards created for the 21-month qualification, carried out in partnership with the Institute for Apprenticeships Tech Education (IfATE).
Adam said: “There are 71 million mobile phones in the UK alone. It shouldn’t be a case of if your mobile breaks you instantly think about getting a new one.
“There needs to be the resources in place to make repairs a go to option – it’s much better for a customer’s pocket and is certainly much better for the environment.
“Up until now there just haven’t been enough skilled technicians available to repair all the devices that need fixing and as the number of devices grows across the UK, the skills shortage will only increase further.
“The National Digital Device Repair Technician Apprenticeship is an absolute gamechanger as it is going to help fill that gap.”
Adam, whose company processes around 250,000 products each year – and in 2023 notched up a record near-£20 million turnover, added: “By extending the life of digital devices, we can actively reduce the carbon footprint associated with the production and disposal of electronics.
“This is vital as we commit to the UK’s ambitious target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”
As a local pre-cursor to the apprenticeship, TMT launched its own in-house Training Academy four years ago, in partnership with Samsung, to upskill the next generation of mobile device technicians, so far creating 79 roles.
It’s hoped in its first year, at least 40 apprentices will join the scheme.
The apprenticeship is also the first “dark green” standard in the digital space, which means it’s been set up to contribute to the UK’s mission to become Net Zero by 2050.
