From quiet starters to confident innovators – that’s the power of apprenticeships

Kimberly-Clark is a global business producing some of the world’s most recognisable brands in consumer goods and personal care. The 143 strong team – and around 40 contractors – employed at Northfleet Mill in Kent are central to its UK operation.

We caught up with mill manager James Brincat to talk about the company’s sponsorship of this year’s East Kent Apprenticeship Awards, the impact that apprentices bring to the business and why investing in the future is the right thing to do.

Tell us something about what goes on at Northfleet Mill
We’re the Kimberly-Clark mill for the south of the country.  This site has been producing Andrex toilet rolls since 1957. That’s about 800,000 a day at the moment.

Our site is right on the river Thames so a lot of our fibre comes in by barge rather than road which fits in well with our desire to be as sustainable as we can and reducing our carbon footprint.

We all live by three key values: our people, the safety of our people and the quality of our product. Priorities may change but not our values and that’s what drives us forward daily.

Tell us more about how you deliver on those values, particularly around people

A big part of this is creating a safe environment where people can bring their true selves to the workplace and grow.  That could be within their current roles or gaining the skills they need to advance on site or externally within Kimberly-Clark.

In the last few years, we have relaunched our apprenticeship scheme after a period of change within the company to recognise the importance of bringing on the next generation of talent.
We currently have a pool of five apprentices and are looking to further increase that number this year, with training that will give a strong foundation in engineering, process and skills around automation and digitalisation.

It’s all about future proofing the facility here. That’s not just through apprenticeships. We’re very passionate here about growing the employees we have and how we can build up their knowledge and capabilities.

Tell us more about your apprenticeship programme

I was brought back into the mill, into my current role, three years ago. My vision is all about creating a factory for the future and a big part of this was to build our apprenticeship programme back up again.

This is led on site by Steve Baxter and Kerry Hunter, who are very passionate about our apprentices and have driven the programme to the success that we’re seeing now.  It’s been phased in gradually with three cycles so far offering training in process, mechanical and electrical engineering.

We’re about to start our fourth cycle and will be seeking candidates for a process led apprenticeship and another for a digital apprenticeship. That will take our existing pool to seven. Alongside this, we have our graduate supply chain programme within Kimberly-Clark with four graduates coming through over the past two years. All of them are of big value to us as a business.

Tell us about who you work with to support apprenticeships

We work with IPS (engineering) and CATCH (Process) to deliver our training programmes with added input through our connections with the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI), the UK sector trade body for our sector.

We need to bring more talent into the paper manufacturing industry. That has included doing a lot of research around what the industry needs, what we need and what the people coming through need in terms of their career development.

What an apprenticeship programme looked like 15-20 years ago is different to what it is today, including the mindsets of the different generations.  We reflect that in our approach and the terminology that we use.

Our ‘Factory of the Future’ vision is an important part of this, setting how we can best continue to attract people into paper manufacturing and show them the benefits of a career in this sector. It’s also about setting out our employee value proposition as a business to show what makes us different and stand out as an employer.

What is the ultimate goal or ambition of your apprenticeship programme?

That’s a really key question for me. There’s a two-way partnership in any apprenticeship. We’re looking to retain skills and make sure that we have got clear succession plans for key roles as they come up across the mill. They’re our next engineers, supply chain managers etc., after all.

Part of what we’re seeking to achieve with our programme is how we also build the softer skills within the workplace that sit alongside the training that will help our apprentices as they progress.

Even if at the end of their apprenticeships they choose to do other things – or if there aren’t full-time roles immediately available – we hope they will always speak highly of their time here and maybe one day return to the business. It’s not just about retaining talent but building a path for young people and playing a part in their career journey.

Why are events like the East Kent Apprenticeship Awards so important and what are you looking forward to seeing?

I think we can sometimes forget the hard work that apprentices are putting in. I think it’s important to recognise that and the growth they’re showing year on year.

It’s also important to applaud the people that are nurturing and supporting them.  It’s easy to forget what it was like when we started in the workplace. It’s a daunting place, and having those people around you that are supporting you is important.

For the apprentices, seeing how the hard work pays off, what lies ahead of them, being able celebrate their successes is fantastic and we’re delighted to be able to show our support through sponsorships of events like the EKAAs.

I remember what my journey looked like. To be able to look back on that and see how it’s evolving, see how that young people are coming through, how they’re growing into the future is something I love to see.

What would you say to young people about why apprenticeships could be a good route for their future?

Apprenticeships are a fantastic route to take, exposing young people to the workplace and building their experience. It’s a fast-track way to getting their career started. It adds another dimension to learning.

The changes that we see in people over the four years of their apprenticeships here are exceptional. Millie, one of our apprentices is a great example, growing in confidence and coming up with fantastic ideas.

Just the other week, she was talking about what she wants to do once she’s finished her apprenticeship, asking how we can support investing into a sustainability engineering degree and looking at the different technologies we could use towards achieving net zero.

It’s that kind of mindset, that growth that I’m seeing in all our apprentices. They come in shy with no real prior experience of a workplace and quickly become people ready to make a real impact on the business.

What one piece of advice would you give to a new apprentice?
Don’t fear failure. You will learn the most from your failures. You don’t learn through constant success. So don’t beat yourself up when things don’t go right. We’ve all been there.  Take them, grow from them. That’s what will build you into the best kind of employee over the long term. Believe in yourself!

All our apprentices have had their learning curves. It’s not all about perfection, but the journey. I’ve watched them bounce back from when things have not gone so well. They build the resilience to go again and learn knowing they have a supportive network around them.

What would you say about the benefits an apprenticeship programme can bring?

Having apprentices on site has brought out the best in our more experienced employees who love nothing more than to download what they know.  The day we had apprentices come back into the business, there was a real level of energy coming through the mill.  With young people coming in, it screams future, and we can see we are building the next generation.

I’m seeing it in many of those heading closer to retirement who are wanting to impart every bit of knowledge and experience they’ve gained over those 20-30 years that they’ve been working with us. They have enjoyed being mentors and have grown and flourished themselves. That is a big part of the legacy they will leave behind.

The world is also changing.  When you look to digitalisation, and automation, these are skills that young people are bringing with them. So, they’re not just learning. They’re bringing new learning and ways of thinking to us.  That helps us in adapting to the environment we’re in and easing that transition into the kind of digital age that we’re going into.

We’re still learning and building our apprenticeship programme and there’s always things we can do to keep improving but there’s no shortage of care and passion for building the next generation at Kimberly-Clark.