Sixteen years after completing his Etco apprenticeship, Sam Campbell has come full circle and is employing the next generation of apprentices. Now business owner and General Manager at Nexus Electrical, the foundations laid at Etco gave him a flying start.
“Etco kept me on my game and ensured I got the right experience across residential, industrial and commercial. I wasn’t stuck working in one area,” says Sam (35).
It was the ideal launchpad for a global career – he worked in Australia and England before returning to Auckland to light up businesses and homes with Nexus.
“I’ve got a team of five. One is a former Etco apprentice, and we also host two apprentices from Etco under their Group Employment Scheme. With Etco, when you need an apprentice, you put your feelers out and they come back with options. And if it doesn’t work out, they help us find a solution. It’s simple.”
When you own your own business, that’s worth its weight in gold!
This is your reminder to enrol your apprentices before 31 December 2024 to access the current Fees Free. There is still time, but you need to act fast. From 2025, the Fees Free scheme changes to cover only the final two years of an apprenticeship. By signing up now, you’re helping your apprentices access immediate fee support, potentially avoiding upfront costs and financial strain.
Contact us today to enrol your apprentices and secure your training advantage for the coming years. PH: 0800 275 3826 or talk to your Etco training advisor.
Planning the future of Electrical Apprenticeships to ensure growth and innovation amid economic challenges.
Etco’s Group Employment Scheme has been around for more than 30 years, and this model has worked well to support the electrical industry in New Zealand.
We paused recruitment into the group scheme earlier this year due to the economic downturn. We are pleased to announce that we are now taking placements where there is demand.
With changing times, we must ensure that the Group Employment Scheme is fit for purpose and continues to flourish into the future. If you have any thoughts or feedback around how we can improve the group scheme, or if you are keen to hear our plans for 2025, then please contact Ben Stevens, Director of Specialist Trades. E: [email protected]
We have a new contact person to help you with your apprentice placement requests. Please advise your teams that Joanna Taylor is now the contact person and can be reached at
E: [email protected] | Ph: 09 282 8707 or 027 254 0145
For general enquiries, if you already have an arrangement for placements through your Training Advisor (Mentor) then please continue to contact them in the first instance.
We are excited to announce the opening of our second South Island training facility in Hornby, Christchurch. This state-of-the-art campus will provide a training hub for New Zealand’s future tradespeople. Tuition includes Etco’s electrical pre-trades and apprenticeships, ICE’s plumbing, gasfitting, drainlaying, and roofing apprentice training, plus E-tec’s advanced electrical courses. The new hub caters for 700-plus electrical apprentices, PGD apprentices, pre-trade students, plus learners enrolled in industry short courses in the region.
With the best quality gear and technology, including large roofed drainlaying pits, modular bathroom pods, new hand and battery tools, new workshop equipment, multiple 4+ assessment sets for each task, large bright touch-enabled displays and class sets of laptops, we are confident our apprentices will succeed in this modern environment!
It’s great to be able to support Christchurch and the Canterbury area by giving South Island-based apprentices and their employers more choices for their training, with less travel.
EWRB-approved training provider E-tec assesses and delivers a wide range of programmes that offer hands-on electrical and electrotechnology training.
The new Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) one-day theory and practical block course provides the knowledge and skills to select, install, commission and maintain local site power conditioning systems, meeting requirements of the unit standard 29438. On completion of the course, E-tec will report the unit standard to NZQA (four NZQA credits). For Etco apprentices, E-tec will advise Etco of your completion of module DC 03.1.
Course cost: $395 incl. of GST.
Last week, Skills Group hosted a series of informative sessions on the proposed Vocational Education and Training (VET) reforms. We were delighted to see strong engagement with the three webinars we hosted.
Each webinar provided an opportunity to discuss the potential impacts of the proposed reforms, including the two options for restructuring industry training and standards-setting. We shared our perspective on why Option B, which maintains a competitive market for training provision and allows for greater flexibility, better serves the needs of employers and learners.
We also covered important changes to the Fees Free scheme and Apprenticeship Boost programme, affecting learners and employers from January 1, 2025. These changes significantly affect how apprenticeships and pre-trade training are funded and supported.
For those who couldn’t attend or wish to revisit the discussion, we’re pleased to share the following resources:
Webinar Slides: VET Webinar Slides
Session Recording: Important Changes to Trades Training – What It Means for Your Business – Watch now
Summary Document: Changes to Industry Training Overview
Speak up and be heard. Consultation for the proposed changes closes on September 12, 2024. Your voice matters in shaping the future of vocational education in New Zealand. If you have any questions or wish to discuss the reforms further, please don’t hesitate to contact [email protected]. You can also share your thoughts directly with the government.