Portals is committed to developing future talent and addressing potential skills shortages. To further strengthen our commitment, we are proud to announce we are now part of The 5% Club, an industry led initiative focused on driving momentum into the recruitment of apprentices, graduates and sponsored students.

The 5% Club is a movement of more than 300 employers providing ‘earn and learn’ opportunities to develop the skills and talents people need to become more employable and create meaningful careers. By joining The 5% Club we are committing to raising the number of apprentices, sponsored students and graduates on formal programmes to 5% of our total workforce within five years.

Our membership will give us the opportunity to share best practice and join a fantastic network of like-minded organisations as we work towards a shared goal of developing our workforces and playing our part in addressing wider youth unemployment and skills shortages.

Developing our workforce
Portals currently has a number of employees completing formal training, including professional qualifications, and has in place an apprenticeship scheme. As we work towards our 5% goal we are continuing to develop our papermaking and leadership programmes, whilst expanding our traditional apprenticeship scheme to include apprenticeships for more experienced individuals.

Alison Longbottom, Portals’ HR Director, commented: “People are at the heart of our business and a critical part of our future strategy. We’re proud to embrace an ‘earn and learn’ culture and to demonstrate our commitment to developing our workforce by becoming part of The 5% Club.”

Lady Cobham, Director General of The 5% Club said, “We’re delighted to welcome Portals into membership. All our members share an ethos of creating a skilled workforce and helping people develop meaningful career paths.”