At a recent CeeD event, the conversation turned to a regularly discussed challenge: recruitment, and specifically the difficulty of finding high-quality apprentices. In my three years of working with a wide range of companies and individuals across engineering, it’s a topic that has come up time and again.
With a background in finance, and having followed the university route myself, I’ve never felt I had a huge amount to contribute to the apprenticeship debate. But this time, I had a slightly different thought: I’m a rugby coach. You might be wondering what that has to do with apprentice recruitment, but actually, I think quite a lot.
Perhaps, as an industry, we’re casting our net too wide - or at least overlooking one very obvious place to look. Many of the qualities employers tell us they want in an apprentice are exactly the qualities being displayed and developed every week at local sports clubs.
As well as my day job as Business Development Manager for Interflon Scotland, I coach at Boroughmuir Rugby Club in Edinburgh. It’s a successful club with nearly 400 playing members in its junior academy. Across the Under 16 and Under 18 boys' and girls' teams - the Banshees - alone, we have close to 100 young men and women thinking about exams, results, college, university, work and, for some, apprenticeships. Many of them understand the university and college routes reasonably well, but apprenticeships are often less familiar territory. That creates a real opportunity for employers - not just to recruit, but to educate young people about the careers and pathways available to them. At Boroughmuir, we already provide careers support through some of our sponsor companies, and that’s partly where this idea comes from.
So why do I think sports clubs are such a good place to look? Think about the qualities and behaviours you see in young people who commit to sport:
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They want to be somewhere real, not virtual, doing something practical and physical.
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They understand what it means to be part of a team working towards a common goal.
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They are accustomed to teamwork and shared responsibility.
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They are competitive: they want to improve, achieve and win.
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They are used to practical problem-solving and making decisions in the moment.
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They can operate at pace while understanding the importance of rules, discipline and safe practice.
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They tend to be positive, energetic and enthusiastic.
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They support their teammates and, crucially, are prepared to challenge them when standards aren't high enough.
That last point, in my view, is one of the biggest drivers of performance in sport. But there’s something broader here too. Young people don't generally attend sports clubs simply to play. They go to be part of something: to socialise, build friendships, form communities, engage with others and contribute to a team. And they don't just turn up and play - they train, practise, listen to coaching, try things, make mistakes, respond to feedback and improve. In other words, they are already active learners.
So, my question to employers is simple: if you haven't already engaged with your local sports clubs, why not? It doesn't need to be complicated. Speak to the club or go along to a training night or home fixture. Perhaps offer some sponsorship. It doesn't have to involve huge sums of money - a few hundred pounds might contribute towards a set of strips, new equipment, pitch hire or transport to an away fixture.
In return, you can start building a relationship with the club and its older age groups throughout the season. Think strategically about when you engage: around exam and results periods, for example, employers could speak to young people about apprenticeships and other career opportunities. Invite them into your business for a site visit so they can see what the workplace is actually like and meet your existing apprentices. Some of the best company visits I've attended have been the ones where young people have had the opportunity to speak directly to apprentices already doing the job.
There is something in it for everyone. For the young person, it could open the door to an apprenticeship and potentially a long-term career in a company or industry they might otherwise never have considered. For the club, it brings valuable sponsorship and allows it to offer more holistic support to its young people and the wider community. And for the employer, it creates a direct connection with a pool of young people who may already possess many of the behaviours they are trying to recruit.
We've recently had an opportunity to test some of this thinking ourselves. At Interflon Scotland, we've just completed the recruitment process for our own Business Management Graduate Apprentice. Our shortlist included young people with a range of backgrounds, personalities and interpersonal styles, all with strong CVs, relevant qualifications and experience. But two candidates stood out because they demonstrated many of the qualities described above: teamwork, drive, confidence, willingness to learn, personal responsibility and the ability to engage positively with others.
And yes, both are keen sportspeople, with one also coaching across multiple sports alongside their own sporting activity. An uncannily well-timed coincidence? Maybe. But we're inclined to think not.
For engineering and manufacturing businesses struggling to attract the next generation, perhaps part of the answer isn't another recruitment platform or a wider advertising campaign. Perhaps it's simply getting involved with the communities where those young people are already learning how to become part of a team.
About Interflon
Interflon is a global specialist in advanced lubrication technology. Our proprietary MicPol® technology helps organisations reduce wear, extend maintenance intervals, improve asset reliability, lower energy consumption, minimise lubricant use and waste, and reduce whole-life maintenance costs.
Interflon Scotland combines the global expertise of the Interflon Group with over 35 years of local experience supporting manufacturers and asset-intensive industries across Scotland and Northern Ireland.
We work in partnership with our customers to understand their equipment, operating environments and maintenance challenges, and develop practical lubrication strategies that improve reliability, efficiency, health & safety and sustainability.
Our approach goes beyond simply supplying lubricants. We combine advanced industrial and food-grade lubricants, greases, cleaners and degreasers with technical expertise and ongoing support to help customers optimise lubrication across their assets. Through our Lubrication as a Service (LaaS®) approach, this can include technical surveys and lubrication assessments, product and COSHH rationalisation, automated lubrication solutions, technician training, health and safety improvements and ongoing technical support.
We believe lubrication should be treated as a strategic maintenance discipline rather than simply a consumable purchase – creating opportunities to extend asset life, reduce downtime and maintenance costs, improve operational performance and deliver more sustainable outcomes.