Jardine Motors Group (JMG) is one of the UK’s leading automotive retailers with more than 50 dealerships offering 14 different premium and luxury car brands, from Aston Martin to BMW and McLaren to Porsche.

Apprenticeship schemes and other training programmes are at the heart of the company’s ethos, with CEO Neil Williamson proudly describing the business as “a people company not a car company.”

In the first quarter of 2023, some of JMG’s apprentices were left in a precarious position following the sudden collapse of one of its existing training partners.

JMG had an urgent requirement to appoint a replacement training provider to manage learners on three apprenticeship programmes and Realise was selected.

Fast forward to today, almost 100 apprentices from JMG are now well on their way to completing their programmes and reaching End Point Assessment.

The three programmes Realise deliver are Level 3 Customer Service Specialists for aspiring managers, Level 3 Team Leader/Supervisor for first line managers and Level 5 Operation Department Manager for leaders of the future.

Realise’s challenge is to deliver training which provides career progression for the individual employee and succession planning opportunities for Jardine Motors Group.

The success

The first challenge for the Realise team was to ensure that all existing learners on the trio of apprenticeship programmes it was appointed to deliver were quickly transferred, limiting disruption to the training of the learners.

While JMG leaders were bracing themselves for a transition which may take many months and an unwelcome break from their training programmes for dozens of its employees, all apprentices were officially transferred and continuing their studies within six weeks.

Two full-time and exclusive Realise trainers (Charlotte Gregory and Chris Ward) were immediately dedicated to the Jardine team, not only delivering the programmes but also being available to meet the daily needs of the apprentices.

Once the transition of learners was completed, Realise carried out a thorough audit of the curriculum being delivered to ensure it was providing the maximum benefit for both the apprentices and JMG as an employer.

The result of the review was a strategy overhaul. Gone were the long-form essays of between 3,000 and 4,000 words and replaced by experiential learning.

Introducing real-life examples of how the theory can be put into practice in the day-to-day running of JMG has ensured the performance and understanding of apprentices has soared.

The training is delivered on a blended learning model, uniquely designed and facilitated both in person and virtually.

Adrian Grove, sales director of Realise:

“The learning and development proposition of Jardine Motors Group is incredible and doesn’t come close to being matched in the vast majority of businesses across the UK.

“The commitment to developing its people is outstanding and, here at Realise, we are proud to play a part in bringing that apprenticeship programme to life.

“While the partnership is in its relative infancy, we have already made some huge strides together to enhancing the apprentice experience and making a tangible difference to the success and growth of the business.”

Paul Phelan, Head of Leadership Development at Jardine Motors Group:

“I can’t speak highly enough about the way the team at Realise works and the partnership we are building with them is inspiring for all involved.

“The swiftness with which the transfer of apprentices was turned around was incredible and the new curriculum we have developed together with Realise has been brilliantly received by our apprentices. There is a real difference in the performance and understanding and how our apprentices are approaching their day-to-day work.

“Our commitment as a business is ‘growth powered by people’ and the innovative approach to the development and training adopted by Realise is certainly helping us achieve that.”