Established as a small legal practice in Bolton in 1968, Keoghs now employs over 1700 across 12 offices around the UK and is the leading provider of claims related services to the insurance industry. The firm has dealt with insurance related claims since they were established and act for insurers that represent more than half of the UK’s general insurance market. What’s more, they also act for claims handling organisations and self-insured clients spanning a wide variety of Industry sectors.
“Our experience with Damar has been both productive and rewarding from the onset of our partnership and a close working relationship with both our Business Development Manager and coaches has been fruitful. Like everything in life, not everything runs smoothly but Damar has impressed us with their proactive handling of issues and quick resolution to problems.”
David McIntosh, People Development Manager at Keoghs
How have your Apprentices progressed in their roles and how has Keoghs benefitted from their performance?
Keoghs has recruited over 20 Apprentices in the last eighteen months mostly level 3 Paralegal Apprentices who have taken up ‘real’ jobs from their commencement. This has helped the firm meet its growth requirements by sourcing new and fresh talent with a potential to grow. Nearly 50% of our Apprentices have either been promoted or significantly grown their current roles and our Apprentices have been significant in feeding our talent pipeline.
How has the qualification and training delivery been of benefit to your Apprentices and how has this impacted your business?
Studying for their Apprenticeship qualifications has given our Apprentices a sound platform of legal knowledge as a context to build their current skills and to build new skills. The trainer interaction has worked well combined with the Keoghs Legal Academy and coaching from their Team Leader and Subject Matter Experts. This has resulted in our Apprentices performing to a high level and filling the next level roles in their teams.
What future plans do you have for your Apprentices and how do you feel the training may support their future development?
At Keoghs we have a strong history in developing our own talent and our Apprentices are no different. We set out with a development pathway for Apprentices to enter at different levels with the ability to progress from the Level 2 Legal Administration Apprenticeship right through to a Solicitor Qualification. We already have our first Level 2 Apprentice who has progressed onto the Level 3 Paralegal Apprenticeship and are in discussion with others about this. Our first cohort of Level 3 Paralegal Apprentices will complete their Apprenticeship in the autumn and we are in discussion with them about progressing to the Level 6 Cilex Apprenticeship. In addition to this we will be using a shortened version of the Level 7 Solicitor Apprenticeship to progress our law graduates to qualifying as Solicitors. It is widely accepted by our Apprentices’ Team Leaders that their qualification, supported by Keoghs legal academy and on the job training, has made them more effective than non-Apprentices.
What advice would you give to other employers thinking about taking on an Apprentice?
- Form a partnership with your Apprenticeship provider and work with them to build your Apprenticeship structure and programme
- Think about how you can feed your talent pipeline with Apprentices rather than traditional recruits and what your Apprenticeship career pathway is.
- Start with a small pilot group of Apprentices and line managers and build champions on both sides who can sell the benefits of Apprenticeships both internally and to future Apprentices
What, in particular, has stood out as being ‘exceptional’ about your Apprentices or has ‘added real value’ to the team?
Our Apprentices have demonstrated and proven the depth of talent and potential that the younger members of our society possess and that tapping into this talent pool has both short and long-term benefits for our business and the legal profession.