Celebrating the Next Generation of Team Rygor
Multi-award-winning Rygor Auto (owned by official UK Best Workplace™ and Great Place to Work®, multi-franchised vehicle Group, Rygor Group Ltd.) has welcomed its new cohort of apprentices to its annual induction day, held at Rygor Auto Reading.
Of its 11 Rygor Auto branches, the Worton Grange site in Reading was chosen for its location. Close to J11 of the M4, it’s a convenient location to host apprentices based at Rygor’s Swindon, Oxford, Heathrow Truck and Heathrow Van sites; as well as apprentices from the Reading branch itself.
As part of Rygor’s commitment to training and nurturing future talent through its strategic development pathway, Team Rygor’s newest members are training as HGV Technicians, LCV Technicians, Customer Service Experts, and Retail Parts Advisors; joining 22 existing apprentices, working towards Mercedes-Benz Van UK (van) or Daimler (truck) industry recognised qualifications.
They are supported on their training journey by the award-winning expert team at Rygor Auto and Rygor Group, many of whom started as apprentices themselves and are now further developing their career path, as apprentice mentors.
In line with its core values of Rewarding, Reliable, and Respectful, the Rygor business is committed to providing an all-encompassing, multi-faceted programme of events for its apprenticed team members.
In addition to a full programme of support throughout the learning journey, Rygor Auto provides a unique development pathway to complement world-class manufacturer training. Rygor’s apprentices enjoy regular contact with others learning in the programme, through events such as Life Skills week (a holistic look at ‘soft skills’, budgeting, mental health and resilience) at the end of year two, and the much-anticipated end of year one visit to MB World - both of which took place successfully this month.
Speaking about Rygor’s apprentice programme, and the recent visit to MB World (where apprentices enjoyed an informative visit including team building, a tour, and an exciting driving experience to round off the day) culture and communications executive, Talitha Scott, said: “The annual trip to MB World is always a big hit with our apprentices, and is a fantastic way to show our appreciation for their hard work during the first year of their learning journey. It’s incredible to see the ways they have developed as individuals – with increased social confidence and communication skills, witnessing the strong friendships that have been cemented between them as a group and with their Rygor mentors.
“Our Life Skills event has been a new venture for 2024, and we were delighted to hear that our year two apprentices really enjoyed the experience! We’re always looking at more ways to enhance our Apprentice Pathway provision and in 2025, our existing extra-curricular activity calendar will be further enhanced by Customer Placement Week. This’ll give our year three apprentices the chance to gain real understanding of the impact their work has on our customers and what a huge difference they make by providing Rygor’s exceptional quality.
“We seek to ensure we provide the very best for our team members. Whether with the extra benefits we provide; sensitive and people-focused policies, or the ways we care for and nature talent through our bespoke development pathways; we put our team at the centre of everything we do, so we’re looking forward to another year of supporting our apprentices as they grow and progress!”
Rygor Auto aftersales director, Sean Joyce, who himself started his career as a technician apprentice, and is passionate about continuing to develop and champion Rygor team members, said: “As a Group, we are committed to our whole team - supporting our both new and long-serving team members in every way possible.
“We encourage two-way comms and listen to what our team has to say, so we can always strive to better and better. Our incredible team works together to keep our customers on the road through first-class, quality customer service, and repair and maintenance, so teaching the next generation of Team Rygor and keeping our core values at the very heart of our apprentice’s journey, we ensure we do the very best for them, our business, and our customers.”
In September 2024, Rygor Group achieved Great Place to Work® certification for the third year running. The business is also on the UK Best Workplace™ list 2022 and 2023, a UK Best Workplace for Wellbeing™ 2023 and 2024, and a UK Best Workplace for Development™ 2024 (large companies).
In March next year, Rygor will open applications for its 2025/26 apprentice intake. Enquiries can be emailed to careers@rygor.co.uk