Managed Services Provider Connectus Business Solutions has made four appointments across its client success and engineering operations, combining experienced recruitment with apprenticeships as it builds the workforce supporting more than 750 businesses.

The technology skills shortage has forced many businesses to think harder about where their next generation of employees will come from.

For Connectus Business Solutions, part of the answer is increasingly to develop them itself.

The Managed Services Provider has announced four appointments spanning client success, engineering and technical support, while highlighting the progression of three existing first-line engineers into second-line roles.

The appointments expand teams across Wrexham, Doncaster and Salford and reflect a workforce strategy built around recruiting young people, combining education with practical experience and creating opportunities for employees to progress internally.

At the same time, Connectus is strengthening the client-facing operation supporting its base of more than 750 businesses.

STRENGTHENING CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS

Ben Lee joins Connectus to strengthen its client success team.

Based in Wrexham, he will work with customers across Wrexham, North Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire, with a remit focused on developing relationships and increasing the value delivered to clients.

The appointment adds to Connectus’s regional presence, with the company operating offices in Doncaster, Salford, Grimsby, Chester and Wrexham.

But three of the four new appointments reveal another element of the company’s growth strategy: developing technology professionals from the beginning of their careers.

EARNING A DEGREE WHILE BUILDING A TECH CAREER

Morgan Simmonds joins the engineering team through a degree apprenticeship focused on Digital Technologies, supported by Manchester Metropolitan University.

The route combines university education with practical experience inside the business, allowing Simmonds to develop technical skills while working on real-world requirements.

Connectus sees the model as a way of bringing young people into the technology sector while creating a longer-term talent pipeline for the company.

That approach extends to its support desks.

Ryan Kennedy has joined the engineering and support desk team in Doncaster as a first-line apprentice.

He will work with local and wider Connectus teams on incident management and resolution while developing his technical capabilities.

Todor Todorov has joined the company’s Salford engineering and support desk operation, also as a first-line apprentice.

THE OTHER SIDE OF APPRENTICESHIPS: PROGRESSION

Recruiting apprentices is only one part of the equation. Whether those recruits can progress into more advanced roles is a more significant measure of whether the model creates sustainable careers.

Connectus said Todorov’s appointment follows the recent promotion of three first-line engineers into second-line positions.

That internal progression is important to the company’s argument that apprenticeships should provide a route into a technology career rather than simply a source of entry-level staff.

“Creating opportunities for new talent while enabling existing colleagues to progress their careers is a really important part of how we want to grow the business,” said Pip Shelton, Operations Director at Connectus.

“We are passionate about putting our customers at the heart of everything we do and delivering world-class service to more than 750 businesses. Our talented team is absolutely key to that commitment.”

BUILDING RATHER THAN SIMPLY BUYING TALENT

For Managed Services Providers, technical capability is directly connected to customer service. Growth in client numbers ultimately requires enough people with the skills to resolve problems, manage systems and support customers effectively.

That makes recruitment and retention a commercial issue rather than simply an HR function.

Connectus is attempting to address both ends of that equation: bringing new people into technology through apprenticeships while giving existing employees visible opportunities to progress.

“We are equally passionate about developing and nurturing young talent,” Shelton said. “Investing in young people, giving them meaningful opportunities and helping them build rewarding careers has never been more important.”

“Seeing people join us as apprentices, develop their skills and then progress through the business is something we are incredibly proud of, and these latest appointments demonstrate our continued commitment to doing exactly that.”

The challenge now is to maintain that development model as the business grows.

But the promotion of three first-line engineers alongside the arrival of a new cohort provides an indication of what Connectus wants that model to look like: bring people in at the beginning, develop their technical capabilities and create a pathway for them to move up as the company expands.

THE APPOINTMENTS

Ben Lee — joins the client success team, based in Wrexham, supporting clients across Wrexham, North Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire.

Morgan Simmonds — joins the engineering team on a Digital Technologies degree apprenticeship supported by Manchester Metropolitan University.

Ryan Kennedy — joins the Doncaster engineering and support desk team as a first-line apprentice.

Todor Todorov — joins the Salford engineering and support desk team as a first-line apprentice.

The recruitment follows the promotion of three existing first-line engineers into second-line roles.