There are many avenues of recruitment, and the vast majority of businesses either benefit or would benefit from a multi-channel system of finding the best team members for their organisations.

One of the most pivotal channels is apprenticeships, often characterised as a middle ground between outside recruitment and graduate schemes following fully academic qualifications but is somewhat different to both.

An apprenticeship opens the doors to an entirely new pool of candidates with considerable potential but without necessarily the option to spend several years in academia, and according to research by Davies as reported in Consultancy UK, the finance sector is taking full advantage.

A survey of 504 employees from financial services firms has found that well over half (57 per cent) of organisations have an apprenticeship scheme in place, and the total could potentially be over a third as 8 per cent of respondents stated that they were not sure if their company had a similar scheme.

This news is positive in itself but what makes it even better is the results of these schemes for both the apprentice and the firm in question have been overwhelmingly positive.

Of the people surveyed, 71 per cent said that it was more cost-effective than other forms of recruitment, whilst 78 per cent said that apprenticeships often progress to long-term careers within the company they were an apprentice in.

This confirms statistically what providers have always already known about apprenticeships; by providing a mix of education and on-the-job training, apprentices are getting the most targeted training possible that gives them the best chance of a long-term career in a particular field or even a particular company.

The most successful companies have a long-term view when it comes to recruitment rather than entering a cycle of constant turnover in some positions due to various circumstances.

It also allows businesses to offer permanent roles from the start and shape the right candidates to fit the roles perfectly, allowing apprentices to feel like they are prepared for the new role. A result of this is that 85 per cent of respondents believe these schemes boost loyalty.