The Kirby apprenticeship scheme has a long-standing and proud reputation for producing some of the leading voices in the industry over the last 60 years.
With a growing shortage of skills in both Ireland and abroad, the demand for talented, traditionally trained craft apprentices who have gained valuable, hands-on experience is increasing rapidly. For engineering and construction company Kirby Group Engineering, apprenticeships have long been a valuable recruitment aid; in fact, the company has been running an apprentice scheme since its establishment over 60 years ago.
“We are one of the biggest providers of apprenticeships in the country, with about 250 apprentices in total,” said Fergus Barry, Group HR Director at Kirby.
“We have our own training centre, they are attached to Solas, and then they work with our professionals. So as part of their apprenticeships, they get to work on some of the most prestigious projects on the planet in data centres, life sciences, semi-conductor, industrial manufacturing – it’s a chance to work in the most exciting and progressive industries in the world.”

The reason the company values its apprentices so much is that they learn on the job – in the Kirby Group way of doing things. Knowing the job from the ground up is a valuable skill for any future leader.
“When we look at an apprentice, we’re looking at a future leader,” said Barry. “Once they get to the third year, we look at their personal development, their role as leaders on projects in the future. We have had major growth, and our industry is facing major growth, so there’s constant opportunity for ambitious, early-stage career individuals. They get to play at Premiership level, with Premier League players, very quickly, so to speak.”
Well over 1,500 apprentices have progressed through the Kirby apprenticeship scheme over the years. Four schemes are currently available: electrical, mechanical (plumber/pipefitter), instrumentation and sheet metal working. Whatever craft is chosen, every apprentice will receive excellent technical training, progressive and practical work challenges, top-level mentoring, and high-quality personal development and support.
“We have spent 60 years developing and refining our apprenticeship scheme,” said Barry. “The demand in our industry for apprentices is growing. We have a steady stream for applications for electrical apprenticeships, but we do advertise for these, as well as for mechanical and plumbing apprentices. There is tremendous opportunity in all our apprentice schemes, and our aim is for our apprentices to stay with us and develop their career with us. There’s also great opportunity to travel, as we have projects with our clients everywhere, from Denmark and Sweden to Italy and Germany.
“For the ambitious apprentice, there’s no end of opportunity. They can go and start their own business, or they can stay with us and work through the ranks as a site manager, project manager, operations manager, director – nearly half our Board members (four out of nine) have come from apprentice schemes.”
Barry says that their hope is that apprentices will choose to stay with the company, as having leaders who have worked from the ground up gives them a real edge when competing for projects.
“I think it’s one of the reasons we are so successful – when you meet a senior team from Kirby, they understand what they are building from knowing the craft. If you’re buying, it’s a very important piece.”
There’s no doubt that the apprenticeship scheme has been remarkably successful at Kirby, but challenges still remain, including the drive for more diversity in the industry.
“Gender balance is a difficult piece,” said Barry. “We’ve been working hard on it for many years, and we’ve been very successful at engineering level, but at apprenticeship level, it’s a struggle and we need to keep working on this. Women are really shining in the engineering and quantity surveying ends, and that’s where many come through as top-level leaders, but we do need to push further at apprenticeship level, as does society in general.”
Barry stresses that the advantages of opting for an apprenticeship are huge – for everyone.
“Some independent research has shown that traditional Irish craft apprenticeship is probably the best regarded in the world – and as there is a skill shortage all over Europe and the world, this is valuable. In terms of qualification, it’s usually one level higher than apprenticeships in other countries.”
“We have an off-site manufacturing centre in Portlaoise with a training facility. At that centre, we offer City & Guilds accredited testing and training – so beyond the normal training, apprentices can get a City & Guilds qualification, which is very highly regarded worldwide. This also supports apprentices who go on to do an engineering degree – it gives them a significant advantage. And there are a whole range of other roles in which this qualification is incredibly valuable – planning, quality control, digital construction, health & safety – but for us, we are always looking at them as ‘future leaders’.”
For more on apprenticeships at Kirby Group Engineering, please see careers.kirbygroup.com
Read the full article here.