Kent Business is launching its Kick Start Kent campaign to get the county’s young unemployed into work.

We are appealing to companies – small, medium and large – to offer an apprenticeship to someone out of a job.

Working at a yacht broking firm has meant business and admin apprentice Bethany Parris is getting the skills she wants without being trapped in an office all day.

While she was in sixth form at Strood Academy, Bethany Parris already knew she wanted a career in business and admin.

What she did not know until she started her apprenticeship with Clarke and Carter Inter-yacht Ltd at Gillingham Marina, was that she had an interest in boats waiting to be discovered.

The 18-year-old hopes to gain her yacht broker licence once she completes her 13-month apprenticeship at the firm, under the tutorship of IPS International.

She said: “I’m not just in an office. I’m outside in the marina as well. We work with different companies and service different boats. It is something different and that is what attracted me to it.”

A couple of times a month, tutors from IPS meet Bethany to discuss what she has been learning on the job.

“You don’t have to do a lot of paperwork,” she said. “It’s practical. One of my units is answering telephone calls and dealing with them. I am assessed on how I answer the phone and it is more about evidence.”

Keen to get into work as soon as she left school, Bethany has put herself on the first rung of her career ladder early in life.

She said: “I wasn’t really interested in going to university and I didn’t want to go into a job in a shop. I knew I wanted to do business and admin in sixth form and I wanted to get started in a good job so I could grow.

“My apprenticeship can hopefully set me up to go on to bigger things.

“I’m never bored. I wake up and I want to go to work. It is never the same routine. I’m always busy and the day goes quicker.”

Bethany has no hesitation on advising others to earn while they learn. She said: “Just go for it. You are not guaranteed to have a job at the end of it but you are learning and can go anywhere once you have gained your skills.

“When I was applying for part-time jobs before I started, I didn’t get them because I didn’t have customer service experience. Now I am dealing with customers all the time and have gained that skill.

“I knew that it would be lower pay than if I was not an apprentice but I’m happy with the wage I’m earning. And one of the main benefits is that this is something I enjoy.”

For more information to help Kick Start Kent, both potential employers and apprentices just have to email kickstartkent@thekmgroup.co.uk