John Fenton
Personnel Director, HMG Paints
John Fenton has worked at HMG Paints for over 22 years and is the Personnel Director in charge of employee training and development. The company is one of the UK’s Largest Independent Paint Manufacturers offering paints and powder coatings. “As an organisation, HMG work closely with our trade organisation and more pertinently their training body,” says Fenton. This motivates John and HMG to ensure his team’s skillsets are as developed, up-to-date and future-proofed as possible.
Existing people need new skills to compete
“We have found that, to compete in a global marketplace, we need new skills. We believe that the next generation needs to better than the current in so many ways.
“We also believe that some of the best people of the future are already in our organisation, hence our investment in upskilling. We really are committed to developing our current staff as well as bringing in new talent to the business.” HMG prides itself on an average employment length of over 16 years and many of its exceptional staff remain for over 25 years.
The University of Salford has its roots firmly within industry and we have worked together for a long time.
As a family business, generations of families have worked (and grown up) together, passing on their knowledge, expertise skills and passion to future generations this way. However, there are innovative new ways to upskill staff even more.
Degree-level apprenticeships
One thorough and cost-effective way to achieve this is through degree apprenticeships.
Fenton explains “we are currently supporting a number of our staff from different departments through the Associate Project Management Higher Apprenticeship at the University of Salford.
“Our staff are coming from a range of departments including Operations, Marketing and Production, and are already benefiting from being able to apply the theory from the course to the HMG paints workplace, in each of their individual roles.
“Seeing our own people grow and gain confidence in their roles is fantastic, these higher-level apprenticeships really are a great way to develop talent within your business, motivate staff and increase retention. I believe Degree level Apprenticeships are just as important to HMG Paints as the country as a whole – I would recommend them to any business!”
Our experience with the University of Salford
It’s important to choose an organisation whose values will fit with that of your business. How else will your staff manage to learn new skills whilst maintaining current standards?
Fenton is confident in the University of Salford’s way of working: “like HMG, the University of Salford has its roots firmly within industry and we have worked together for a long time. We both share similar passions; a belief in Manchester (sorry Salford) and the development of young people and industry. The University of Salford is a ‘world-class’ institution on our doorstep, who understand the needs of us as an employer as well as the needs of our staff.”
