Record growth for Marshall Skills Academy’sapprenticeship programmes

Marshall Skills Academy is preparing to onboard its largest training cohort ever, while simultaneously delivering apprenticeships for a record number of aerospace organisations.
More than 70 technical and business apprentices will start in the 2023 cohort. In addition to representing Marshall Skills Academy’s largest intake to date, this will also bring the total number of concurrent apprenticeships to an all-time high. In addition to technical roles, programmes will span a range of business support fields including health and safety, quality, regulatory, information technology, procurement and estimating.
Meanwhile, Marshall Skills Academy will be working with more organisations than ever. In addition to ongoing delivery of apprenticeships for Marshall Aerospace, Marshall Land Systems and Bombardier, three new participants will be joining the training programmes for the first time this year: Aircraft Restoration Company, Stansted Aerospace, and Titan Airways.
Since all three new partners count Marshall apprentice alumni among their senior management ranks, their decision to choose Marshall Skills Academy to deliver their apprenticeships reflects very positively on their own experiences.
Remarking on the standards of excellence consistently delivered by Marshall Skills Academy, Paul Thomson, General Manager for Bombardier’s UK Service Centre, said: “Bombardier UK made a carefully considered decision to form a strategic partnership with Marshall Skills Academy to deliver our apprenticeship program. Marshall-trained apprentices are widely regarded as the best in the industry.”

“Marshall offers an established and comprehensive training program backed by a wealth of experience in the development of young people,” explains Titan Airways Line Maintenance Manager Lee Taylor. “We chose Marshall safe in the knowledge they will deliver well rounded individuals ready to take on the challenges of keeping our fleet serviceable 24/7.”
Notably, the incoming cohort will be the first to undertake Category A UK Part 66 Aircraft Maintenance Licence (AML) modules as part of their knowledge building. As a result, they will be able to apply for full Category A licenses at the end of their programmes, ultimately enabling them to certify line maintenance.
Other new additions to the training curriculum include a bespoke programme for Stansted Aerospace, which is a Part 145 component maintenance and repair organisation. From a training perspective, this necessitates a high level of hand skills competency around a narrow range of activities. Since there is currently no apprenticeship standard which meets these specific needs, Marshall Skills Academy’s bespoke programme for Stansted Aerospace is designed to ensure that apprentices achieve levels of competency directly mirroring Part 145 requirements for full aircraft
maintenance.
The Marshall Group has been upskilling and training talent for more than 100 years, during which time
it has delivered over 21,000 competent engineers into some of the UK’s most skills-intensive sectors.
Founded in 2020 as the dedicated education and training arm of the Marshall Group, the mission of Marshall Skills Academy has been to continue to grow the Group’s talent pipeline through apprenticeships whilst using its expertise to help other employers by training their apprentices.
Given increasing awareness of the value and importance of apprenticeships and the sustained success of its apprenticeship programmes, Marshall Skills Academy continues to expand and invest in its capability. Starting this year, all Cambridge-based practical and classroom apprenticeship training will relocate to a spacious and fully modernised facility, while plans for further facilities will be announced in the near future. Outside the UK, the skills academy model has been expanded into Canada with the launch of an “Earn as you Learn” pilot programme.
Marshall Skills Academy has also been leading industrywide conversations about the looming
engineering and technical skills shortage, having gathered representatives from the aerospace
industry, academia and public sector organisations last month for the inaugural Marshall Skills Summit.
Several Marshall apprentices have received awards and accolades for their outstanding achievements both personally and in the workplace. Alumni include three World Skills UK medalists and one World Skills International winner. Four apprentices were shortlisted for the Cambridgeshire Apprenticeship Awards, two of whom won highly commended certificates, while one of Marshall’s trainers won an Apprentice Mentor Award in 2021.
12% of Marshall apprentice alumni have progressed to senior level roles across various aerospace
and defense companies in the UK and beyond. Several have been honored with MBEs for their services to aerospace, and this is testament to the incredible start they received as apprentices in Marshall’s training workshop.
If you’d like to learn more about Marshall Skills Academy’s engineering training programmes, please
get in touch

Paul Cremer

My name is Paul Cremer, and this marks my 42nd year working within the business and general aviation industry. Over this time, I’ve had the privilege of overseeing a diverse array of sector activities, ranging from aircraft charter and management to air ambulance services, ground operations, air traffic control, airport management, technology implementation, and the outsourcing services I currently manage.

In my role focused on delivering advisory, technology, and outsourcing services to aviation customers, I handle a wide spectrum of responsibilities. This includes overseeing International Trip Support, Operations Control Centre Services (OCC), Continuing Airworthiness Management Service (CAMO), Airworthiness Reviews, ARC Services, Aircraft Delivery and Re-delivery Support Services, Maintenance Coordination Services including AOG, Tech Ops (Maintenance Control Centre), and managing myairops software products. As the Head of Aviation Delivery, I lead the customer-facing delivery of Technology & Outsourcing products and services for the market, drawing upon a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and industry connections within Gama Aviation’s Technology and Outsourcing Strategic Business Unit.

My journey into Business and General Aviation began during my teenage years while still in school. I was fortunate enough to be welcomed into the industry, starting at a flying club, and later working at the Air Traffic Services Unit at Blackbushe Airport. There, I maintained the ATC Movement Logs in the Control Tower during weekends, solidifying my passion for aviation. Upon completing my schooling, I seized opportunities at Fairoaks Airport, where I began as Ground Crew while pursuing my Aerodrome Flight Information Service Officer’s license. Advancements in my career led me to the role of Air Traffic Services Manager.

Since joining Gama Aviation in 1996, I’ve held various positions, including Operations Manager (Post Holder), Operations & Commercial Manager, Commercial Manager, Operations Delivery Manager, Head of Business Aviation Delivery, and currently, Head of Aviation Delivery. This role encompasses Gama Aviation Group’s Gama Aviation, myairops, and FlyerTech companies.

In 2023, I was honoured to be invited to serve as the Chair of the Operations Working Group for the British Business & General Aviation Association. This opportunity allows me to contribute to industry initiatives within BBGA’s membership of nearly 200 industry companies, focusing on challenges such as regulatory compliance, Air Services Agreements, technological advancements, workforce development, operational matters, and sustainability.

Marc Bailey

Marc Bailey has spent his entire career in aviation and has worked in most areas of Aviation Services with scheduled airlines, MRO’s, military contract support and latterly with associations, government, and its agencies.

Marc represents your position in Europe (even post Brexit) – as President of ECOGAS (European Council of General Aviation Support) which maintains a voice with EASA. All the major member states are represented on the ECOGAS board. With EASA restructuring its meetings with industry, ECOGAS is now well positioned to represent our position in all areas following industry partnerships with the European Independent Maintenance Group and with ARPAS the new drone and autonomous association.

Marc is chair of the UKASF (United Kingdom Airworthiness Strategic Forum) as part of an initiative to develop Aviation Services across all aviation activities. The UKASF pulls together airlines, MROs, Rotary, Drones, and commercial GA bodies to work with CAA and DfT. The objective is for industry to take the lead to drive strategic issues to benefit all parties. We are well positioned after four years to continue our good work and with the re-established role of Chief Surveyor in the CAA we have a good focal point to do this.

Marc chairs the CAA Finance and Services Forum which allows industry in the UK to discuss in the financial plans for the CAA and the value for money delivered by those funds paid by industry. This is a new and valuable new platform for all parties.

Under recent developments Marc has formed an alliance with, ARPAS, AOPA, BHA and BBGA so that we can strengthen our voice under a joint ‘GA 4 Biz’ banner. This alliance is working to do everything possible to represent the industry’s business interests with UK government and to help realise the Government’s desire to make UK General Aviation a Global Leader in a post Brexit environment. GA4Biz – GA4Biz

The next Generation initiatives with industry and government have continued to develop with the retention platform now evolving into the “Aviation Skills Recruitment Platform”. The platform now not only offers a vehicle for those offering and seeking posts in aviation, it also provides pathways with its TalentView portion seeking to provide pathways for new entrants into our sector. The recruitment platform is being further developed to include training opportunities across a wide range of providers, from government agencies through academic bodies. Getting our next generation activities right in the UK over the next couple of years is our single most important issue which we in aviation must grab with both hands. Marc is playing a central role to help develop many of these channels.

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