Black & White Bridging, which launched nationally to the intermediary market in April last year, has announced the establishment of its apprenticeship programme.

The company aims to establish a culture of recruitment from within the talent pool of bright young people in and around the Bath and Bristol area seeking work opportunities rather than going to university with all of the student debt that entails.

Working in association with Bristol based Professional Apprenticeships, Black & White has already taken on two apprentices and is interviewing for a third this month.

Damien Druce (pictured), the lender’s commercial director, said: “With our roots in the Bath and Bristol area we want to support our local economy, give young people a route into the finance world and train them in all aspects of our business.

“Not only do we gain from having enthusiastic young starters, who are keen to learn but also they join us with no preconceptions and are therefore open to learning and adopting our culture of transparency in everything we do. In return, we provide a full training programme and support where their particular talents are assessed to find the right long term role for them within the organisation.

“I have always been a fan of those football clubs, which, rather than buying in expensive talent, put their resources into their youth academies to grow the next generation of first team talent. At Black & White we are establishing our own ‘academy’ to train the finance professionals of the future and support them as they build their careers with us and in the wider world.”