Developing the Young Workforce Dundee and Angus spoke to a local employer to find out how they are engaging with DYW to help make young people work ready.

Based in the northern outskirts of Dundee, Struan Toyota sells new and used cars as well as offering servicing and repairs.  They have represented Toyota in Dundee since 2002 but the family-owned business has been based in the Tayside region for over 30 years.

Speaking to Andrew Woodward, Service Manager at Struan Toyota, about why they consider developing the young workforce important, he said, “We need young blood coming through, it’s as simple as that.  Whether it’s because our current staff retire or move on there is always a need for new staff.  For our business, it is better to get younger people so that we can train them to work in a way that suits our company, both for Toyota who has their own training academy and Struan’s own way of working.  Our long-term aim is to be in a position to offer an apprenticeship”, an opportunity we’d encourage all businesses to explore.

Struan Toyota offer work placements to young people interested in car maintenance and repair.  Since the summer they have been working with DYW and in partnership with two local schools, St. Pauls RC High School and Braveview Academy, as well as with the charity Barnados to offer young people a fantastic opportunity of hands-on experience of working in a garage and dealership.

In the new year, their master technician will be going back into the classroom to teach pupils as part of their physics lessons.  This is an excellent example of how local businesses can help schools deliver engaging and relevant lessons to their pupils and will help answer the age old question “why do I have to learn this? I’m never gonna use it in the real world”.

Struan Toyota hopes that the partnerships with the local schools continue as they have found that the communication has been good and they’ve been having very positive conversations about how they can get engaged.  In their words “It’s working well, long may it continue”.  We couldn’t agree more!

If you would like to get involved with Developing the Young Workforce, get in touch at contact@dywtaycities.co.uk