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MALCOLM GROUP
Having operated for 103 years, Malcolm Group is now aiming to secure many more years of success with its apprenticeship opportunities
W.H.Malcolm Ltd can trace its origins back to 1921 when Walter Malcolm formed a small family coal business with just a single horse and cart.
When Walter died in 1934, his 13-year-old son Donald left school to help run the family business, collecting coal from the nearby railway station and filling individual sacks in preparation for door-to-door deliveries around the local area.
Just over ten years later, the Malcolm fleet had grown to five vehicles. By 1960, Donald entered a partnership with Grampian Holdings PLC although he remained in charge after the takeover.
At the time, the company’s assets included 37 vehicles and seven earth-moving machines, but would rapidly expand into road building and equipment hire.
Today, the business has grown to provide not just road and rail transport but also warehousing and terminal management as well as civil engineering, plant hire construction and vehicle maintenance.
In early 2002 it was renamed Malcolm PLC and listed on the stock exchange.
Donald Malcolm died the following year and in May 2005, after 45 successful years in the public domain, the Malcolm Group was taken back into private ownership by the Malcolm family and is now run by Donald’s two sons, Andrew and Walter Malcolm.
Today, the Group employs more than 2000 colleagues and is one of the leading providers of logistics, construction and maintenance services in the UK.
Throughout the company’s 103 years of operation, its people have been at the heart of its success and developing young talent has been an important part of that.
The Malcolm Group fully endorses apprenticeships and is proud of the many colleagues across the business who have successfully followed an apprenticeship program over the years, whether in one of their workshops, in administration or another area of the business, who have gone on to develop varied and rewarding careers.
Mhairi Jenkins, Group People and Engagement Director said: “Following an apprenticeship route is a great way to earn as you learn, giving the opportunity to build a successful career upon a solid foundation. Our apprentices contribute significantly to our business, enriching it with wealth and value.
“As a company, we continue to evolve, taking crucial strides toward becoming a learning organisation. Apprenticeships serve as remarkable platforms, enabling individuals to enhance their skills while seamlessly integrating with their daily work.
“The diverse array of available apprenticeship programs allows us to apply them across all areas of our multifaceted business.”
The group offers opportunities in warehousing, forklift truck driving, and administration – be that in finance, marketing, human resources or in their operations – as well as the workshops which traditionally attracts the highest numbers of applicants.
Malcolm Group is proud of the many successful careers their people have built as a result of learning ‘on the job’ with day release to college – not least their very own CEO, Andrew Malcolm. Remembering his early days, he said: “I went straight into the workshop, did an apprenticeship, went driving, moved into the traffic office and worked my way up from there”.
Understanding all aspects of the business from the ground-up has served the group well.
Mhairi recognises the importance of investing in the next generation of talent, particularly within the underdog of industries.
She said: “Logistics and construction are not typically at the forefront of young people’s minds when it comes to considering career choices”.
She places weight on the ‘employee value proposition’ (EVP) for the future workforce.
The group is considering what makes them attractive as an employer. Mhairi adds: “Increasingly, young people are looking for us to invest in them, to train and support them in the longer term and help them forge a career – they don’t necessarily just want a job.”
Learning about the job function is invaluable to the apprentice and the employer.
The apprentice has direct, tangible experience and is able to earn whilst learning and the employer can welcome talent into the business much sooner and have them grow in the company culture while learning.
Many students leave study with debt, pursuing an apprenticeship gets you straight on the job ladder with no debt to pay off and a real understanding of the work environment.
In a poll conducted by ‘Generation Logistics’ – a campaign to showcase logistics careers – it showed that 90% of people are unaware of the career opportunities the sector offers.
Another poll by ‘Deconstruction’ – a campaign aimed at improving perceptions of the construction industry – found that 77% of full time students aged between 18 and 24 would not contemplate working in the sector, sharing perceptions such as the sector is ‘dirty’, ‘strenuous’ and ‘unsafe’.
In addition, Mhairi reports that in both the logistics and construction sectors, the average age of the workforce is getting older. Malcolm Group’s aim is to tell a different story to a new generation, one that truly shows what exciting opportunities are available to our local young people to genuinely contribute to the UK economy.
The company is a sponsor of the Generation Logistics campaign, a major industry-wide initiative supported by government which is driving awareness of and attracts new talent to opportunities within the sector to protect the nation’s supply chain.
For 2024, the campaign is focusing its firepower on young people from all walks of life aged 13-24, as well as teachers and educators. Using innovative campaigns across social media platforms, the campaign aims to challenge perceptions about the industry. At the same time, curriculum-relevant materials are being distributed to schools and colleges.
Malcolm Group generates content for the campaigns to highlight the company’s talent and participates in the activities organised by Generation Logistics.
This activity speaks directly to Malcolm’s early talent development and builds a strong foundation for the future success of talent in the business.
To partner a nationwide campaign such as Generation Logistics only serves to better the impression of the industry, and Malcolm Group is proud of its involvement. At the heart of the company’s strategy is investment in people, especially young people just coming through the doors. It’s the DNA of the business.
Many of those young people have gone on to lead very successful careers in the business with many of them collecting long service awards, some very long, with one 50-year service award being given out this year.
The Malcolm Group is extremely proud of its background in supporting young people to achieve their career ambitions through apprenticeship programmes and were delighted to be named in the Top 15 Family Business Apprentice Employer of 2023.
In 2024, the Group offer a broad range of Apprenticeship routes, from traditional Vehicle Technician/Mechanic Apprenticeship training through our vehicle workshops at a number of locations in Scotland and England, to Modern Apprenticeships in a variety of roles such as in Business Administration.
www.malcolmgroup.co.uk
Malcolm Group is taking applications for apprenticeships beginning in 2024 and welcomes people from all backgrounds to apply at apprenticeships@whm.co.uk
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Pupils get lessons on exciting new opportunities
Q&A sessions with the senior team at Malcolm Group are allowing pupils who live near the company's depots an insight to potential career paths with new apprenticeship programmes
MALCOLM Group is presently transforming how available roles within the company are marketed so that school pupils are able to see which skillsets they teach pupils are applicable.
The company recognises that sectoral jargon may put some young people off – as well as thinking there are limited roles within the business.
In particular, the business is looking to increase the diversity of its workforce and views the apprenticeship route as a key component.
The school partnerships give Malcolm Group a real opportunity to showcase what it has to offer first hand to pupils and there are plenty chances for Q&A to the senior team. One local parent said it was an invaluable experience for their teenager and is now considering their role in Malcolm Group.
The business would also like to see a higher proportion of females enter the traditionally male dominated industries and are also keen to spotlight their support for neurodiverse applicants.
Malcolm Group understands that hiring under-represented groups fosters a more inclusive environment and can lead to increased productivity and retention.
WHAT’S ON OFFER NOW?
MALCOLM Group operates a substantial fleet of vehicles and plant across the business. The logistics fleet runs predominantly articulated vehicles with some 360 units and 1250 trailers, the construction division runs more than 100 tippers, skip lorries and sweepers together with over 140 items of plant including excavators, diggers, bulldozers, loaders and surfacing equipment.
Andrew Malcolm states: “We pride ourselves on the quality of our equipment: it says everything about who we are.
“It is vital that our vehicles and equipment receive top quality servicing and maintenance. At the heart of this programme are teams of technicians, mechanics and fitters led by fleet engineers with knowledge and experience that is second to none.”
Workshop apprentices can follow a four-year development programme involving scheduled off the job learning at specialist training centres to complement the on-the-job experience based learning, leading to a nationally recognised qualification, for example NVQ in Heavy Vehicle Mechanics.
Whilst servicing and maintenance increasingly reflects the technical advances in modern vehicle technology, workshop apprenticeship continues to suit individuals with a strong aptitude for “hands on” working and problem solving and who enjoy working in a team.
The group’s Modern Apprenticeship offers a route into work for new joiners and development for existing colleagues in other areas of our business.
Malcolm Group has a number of colleagues contributing in a range of administrative roles in support, traffic, warehouse and other teams who have followed this route and many in the construction division are working through Modern Apprenticeship frameworks, such as Construction Site Supervision and Management.
The group also has a cohort of colleagues working towards their degrees at Glasgow Caledonian University and Glasgow Kelvin College in Civil Engineering and Quantity Surveying.
Malcolm Group can truly say it is proud of its ‘Apprentice Graduates’ with several of them now leading teams in the business.
The firm now has ambitions to launch an Apprenticeship Academy in 2025 widening the career opportunities available to our local young people and increasing the numbers of young people in apprenticeships, solidifying its commitment to the next generation.
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Freedom to choose a fulfilling career
Braveheart partnership aims to steer the next generation of talent
THE company‘s ambition to invest in young people recently saw the launch of the Malcolm Group and Braveheart partnership.
This ‘Braveheart Challenge’ is led by Clare McDonald, Managing Director at Lionheart – Braveheart’s umbrella brand – who has successfully delivered the programme to over 600,000 pupils in the UK.
The aim of Braveheart is to nurture young people as the UK’s future enterprising employees, business leaders and responsible citizens. The programme sees pupils intensively mentored and supported by highly trained Braveheart business coaches to devise a legacy project with a sectoral focus, in this case Logistics.
The programme is designed to mimic a real business environment and develop a range of transferable business skills, ultimately showcasing pathways to career opportunities in the Malcolm Group. The programme is aimed at S3 pupils (14 to 15 years of age) in the local communities of the Malcolm’s depots, i.e. the next generation of talent.
The Malcolm Group hopes that the programme will equip the young people involved with the skills and confidence to consider an apprenticeship within the business when they leave school.
Traditionally, Clare and her Braveheart team have conducted the one-day challenge within the school environment but the Malcolm’s/Braveheart partnership has grown exponentially in the last year.
It began with the sponsorship of a one-day local school event, a judging panel of senior executives and the event at St Benedict’s High School in Linwood.
The event was opened and closed by Andrew Malcolm. He opened the event by sharing the business was proud of its ‘employ local’ attitude and has generations of the same family working in the group today.
He added: “We will continue to invest in our local young people” and wanted the pupils taking part to consider Malcolm’s as a route to employment.”
Since then, an intensive teacher-led preparation event was held in school with each pupil individually, using the detailed job description provided by Braveheart to consider skills gained and the practical application of these in the context of employment.
This work was invaluable to each pupil as they attended W.H. Malcolm’s Heritage Centre, the group’s own museum, showcasing the marvellous work of the business across it’s 103-year operation, including vehicles from each decade.
The Heritage Centre was the setting of a mock recruitment event set up for the year group who participated in the Braveheart Challenge, including a personal interview for each pupil.
Alan Taylor, Headteacher said: “It was a fantastic event for our S3 year group and a great opportunity for pupils to be introduced to the world of work. Just knowing there is high profile successful firm in our local area gives pupils a pride in their community. It lets them see first hand the local opportunities available to them.”
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