Training the next generation of Fylde electricians
Every electrician on our team started somewhere, and most of them started here. Since 2015 we have taken on a new apprentice every two years, worked with Blackpool and The Fylde College, and opened our unit to school pupils who want to see what the job is really like. This page explains how it works and how to get involved.
Our apprentices
We took on our first apprentice in September 2015, when Lee decided the firm was big enough to train someone properly rather than just give them the hoovering. Since then we have taken on one new apprentice every two years: 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024, when Ellie Rawcliffe joined us straight from Hodgson Academy.
Four of those apprentices have now qualified. Two still work with us: Jack Bamber, who started in 2017 and now runs his own jobs around Fleetwood and Knott End, and Liam Hornby, who qualified in 2023 and joins our commercial team on the bigger fit-outs. The other two went on to a Preston contractor and to the railway, which we count as a good result too.
Ellie is in the second year of her Level 3 Electrotechnical apprenticeship at Blackpool and The Fylde College's Bispham campus. She is at college one day a week on day release and out with Mark or Sarah the other four, mostly on rewires and lighting at the moment, with her own set of test instruments since March 2026.
- One apprentice taken on every two years since 2015
- Four qualified so far, two still on the team
- Day release at B&FC Bispham campus, four days a week on the tools
- Next intake: September 2027
How we work with Blackpool and The Fylde College
Blackpool and The Fylde College trains most of the electricians on this coast, so we spend a fair bit of time there. Lee and Paul give two guest talks a year to the Level 2 and Level 3 groups, usually on what a first week on site looks like and on how testing and inspection actually gets done, rather than how the textbook says it does.
Each spring we sit on the college's mock interview day, where Level 2 students practise applying for an apprenticeship with a real employer across the table. We give written feedback to every student we see, and three of our own apprentices came to us through that day.
Since 2022 we have run a "try a trade" afternoon in our unit on Breck Road for Level 1 students every June. Twelve students at a time wire a two-way lighting circuit on a practice board, terminate a consumer unit that is not connected to anything, and have a brew with the team. We also host end-point assessment practice for Level 3 learners in their final year, so they can run through an installation and a test sheet under something close to exam conditions before the real AM2.
- Two guest talks a year from Lee and Paul
- Mock interview day every spring, written feedback for every student
- "Try a trade" afternoon for Level 1 students each June, twelve places
- End-point assessment practice in our unit for final-year learners
The First Toolbag Bursary
A first set of tools costs a new apprentice several hundred pounds before they have earned a penny. In 2021 we started the First Toolbag Bursary to take that worry away for one new local apprentice a year. It is a £500 starter kit: a good bag, VDE screwdrivers and pliers, side cutters, a voltage indicator and proving unit, a tape, a level, a torch and a pair of safety boots in your size. We buy it from our wholesaler on Amy Johnson Way and hand it over in person.
You do not have to be our apprentice. The bursary is open to anyone starting an electrical apprenticeship in September with any firm, if you live in the FY or PR3 postcode areas. Since 2021 it has gone to five apprentices, two with us and three with other local firms.
To apply, send one paragraph to hello@fyldesparks.co.uk by 31 August telling us who you are, where you are starting your apprenticeship and why you want to do this job. That is all. No form, no references. Lee, Karen and Sarah read every email and decide in the first week of September, and everyone who applies gets a reply.
- £500 starter tool kit, bought locally, handed over in person
- One a year since 2021, open to any new apprentice in FY or PR3 postcodes
- Apply with one paragraph by email before 31 August
- Decided in the first week of September, every applicant gets a reply
Work experience for Year 10 and 11 pupils
We take two work experience pupils a year from Baines School, Hodgson Academy and Fleetwood High School, usually one in the autumn term and one in the summer. It is two weeks, not two days, because the first few days are mostly nerves and you do not learn much until you have stopped worrying about where to stand.
Pupils shadow one of our electricians on real jobs, with the customer's agreement. In a typical fortnight they will see a consumer unit change, part of a rewire, a few fault-finding visits and at least one EICR with Paul. They are given their own safety boots and a hi-vis, and they do real things: stripping and marking cables, labelling circuits, holding the tester leads, helping with the second-fix on sockets and switches, and tidying the job at the end of the day so it is left as we found it.
They do not work live, go up ladders or do anything on their own. At the end of the fortnight they get a written reference from the electrician they worked with, and if they are still interested we tell them exactly which college course to apply for and when. Ellie did her Year 10 placement with us in 2021.
- Two placements a year, two weeks each
- Baines, Hodgson and Fleetwood High pupils in Year 10 or 11
- Shadowing on real jobs, never live working or working alone
- Written reference at the end
Women in the trade
Around two in every hundred electricians in the UK are women. On our team it is two out of eight. Sarah Whiteside joined us in 2017 as a qualified electrician and leads our EV charger and outdoor power work, and Ellie Rawcliffe is our current apprentice. Neither of them is here to make a point. They are here because they are good at the job, but the numbers matter all the same.
It matters because a lot of girls at local schools have never seen a woman do this work, and you cannot want a job you have never seen. It also matters to our customers. Some people, particularly older women living alone, are more comfortable with Sarah in the house, and we are happy to arrange that when it is asked for.
Sarah and Ellie visit Baines, Hodgson and Fleetwood High every year for careers events, and in 2025 they ran a girls-only session of the "try a trade" afternoon at our unit for sixteen Year 9 pupils. Two of them have since applied for the Level 1 course at B&FC.
- Two women on a team of eight, against a national figure of about two in a hundred
- School careers visits every year
- Girls-only "try a trade" session run since 2025
- A female electrician can be requested for any domestic visit
What an apprenticeship with us looks like
Our apprenticeship takes about four years and follows the standard route: Level 2 Diploma in Electrical Installation in the first year, then the Level 3 Electrotechnical apprenticeship, finishing with the AM2 practical assessment at an approved centre. You are at Blackpool and The Fylde College's Bispham campus one day a week on day release and with us the other four, every week, from your first Monday.
You are paid from day one. We pay above the apprentice minimum in year one and move you towards the full electrician rate as you progress, and you get the same holidays, pension and sick pay as everyone else. We provide your workwear, your PPE, a full tool kit and, once you have passed your driving test, a van to get to jobs. We pay for your college fees, your exam entries and your 18th Edition course in year three.
You are paired with one mentor for your whole apprenticeship. Jack mentored Ellie in her first year and Sarah has her now. Your mentor checks your college work, signs off your portfolio evidence and is the person you ring when you do not understand something, which is most of the first year for everyone, including Lee back in 1999.
- Level 2, then Level 3, then the AM2 assessment, about four years in all
- Day release at B&FC Bispham, four days a week with the team
- Paid from the first day, above the apprentice minimum
- Tools, workwear, college fees and exam entries all provided
- One named mentor for the whole apprenticeship
Questions from parents and applicants
Where our people train and qualify
Registration numbers are printed on every certificate and quote. Check us, or anyone else, on the NICEIC and TrustMark registers before you let them touch your wiring.
If you are thinking about the trade and want a straight answer about what it involves, ring Lee on 07700 900 461 or drop him an email and he will find half an hour for a chat.
Ring the office and ask for Lee, or email. We answer every application, including the ones we can't take.