Platts & Nisbett is pleased to welcome our new apprentice to the team. Following 14 weeks of full time training at the Brinsworth Academy of Engineering, our new recruit is ready to begin his onsite training at Platts & Nisbett.

Our Company will be working with Brinsworth Academy for the next three years, to ensure our apprentice is given all the guidance and training required to achieve his NVQ Levels 2 and 3. Our apprentice has been assigned a mentor, and will receive one to one training from surgical instrument makers with over 30 years experience. We feel by combining modern apprenticeship learning methods with our own traditional hand crafted skills, we are able to offer our apprentices a great opportunity for a fulfilling career in the future.

A dedicated workshop specifically for our apprentices and their mentors provides an excellent teaching environment. Apprentices learn the vital skills required to produce only the best surgical instruments, working alongside mentors and peers as part of a valued team.

An apprenticeship with Platts & Nisbett lasts approximately 6 years, and it is instilled into them that quality is key. By setting high standards our Company can ensure that a consistent quality product is produced in the years to come. As apprentices progress, they are gradually assigned jobs of a higher complexity. Only when competent can the apprentice move on to the next stage, and work with slightly less supervision. Once they are qualified and begin to gain experience they can then take on the additional responsibility of teaching an apprentice themselves. This continuous cycle is vital in order to protect a trade which would otherwise disappear.

Although it is a time consuming and labour intensive process, the time spent teaching is an investment for the future. As there are very few original manufacturers of quality surgical instruments in the UK, our Company views the apprenticeship scheme as essential to avoid skill gaps in the future.

We look forward to teaching the next generation of skilled surgical instrument makers who can produce items worthy of carrying the Platts & Nisbett name.