Oxon: Chairman in job swap for the day to mark National Apprenticeship Week

Oxfordshire business leader Mike Jennings is nervously planning a job swap to mark National Apprenticeship Week (March 11-15). The chairman of the Jennings family firm, which runs business parks and centres across Southern Oxfordshire, will spend a day working as a receptionist at its Hampden House office centre on Monument Park Chalgrove. Regular receptionist Amie Coles will take on the role of chairman for the day.

It’s the latest initiative by Jennings to support the campaign to boost apprenticeships in Oxfordshire. At the end of 2012 the company hosted a South Oxfordshire apprenticeships event at Monument Park, to give owners of smaller businesses in the area the opportunity to have their questions around the issue answered, and hear about the positive impact apprentices can have in the workplace.

Mike Jennings said: “The Apprenticeships campaign is one we very much support, and the job swap seemed a good way of raising awareness of the issue during National Apprenticeship Week. What worries me is that Amie might be really good as a chairman, and I might be really useless as a receptionist.” Coles, who’ll spend the day focusing on business strategy and meeting with Jennings’ directors and board members, said: “I’m really looking forward to becoming chairman for Job Swap Day - even though people are saying I may be over qualified for the position! I can’t wait to have my own office and PA.”

Jennings MD Paul Mabbutt said: “As anyone who runs a busy business park knows, the receptionist’s role is a vital one as the first point of contact for our tenants and visitors. Handing the role to Mike for a day is not a decision we took lightly, but I’ve been assured that Amie has briefed him well.”

The Jennings Job Swap is one of a series of events and initiatives to mark National Apprenticeship Week in Oxfordshire. Paddy Patterson, Skills Partnership Officer at Oxfordshire County Council, says: “We are delighted to have Mike, Amie and the staff at Jennings getting into the spirit of National Apprenticeship Week. As well as raising awareness of apprenticeships, it highlights the importance to an organisation of using ‘work experience’ placements and ‘job swap’ activities to ‘try before you buy’. Who knows, by the end of the day Jennings could have a new chairman and we could be trying to find a placement for one of the older apprentices in town.”

Monument Park is part of the Jennings family of business centres which also includes The Boundary at Garsington, managedoffices in Didcot, Abingdon and East Oxford, units at Berinsfield, and retail units in Thame.