11.11.2025

One way for employers to meet the challenge of recruiting young people with the right industry skills, is by hosting T Level industry placements.

T Levels are a high-calibre technical qualification for 16–19-year-olds which include a 45-day industry placement. During their placements, students can apply their learnings in real-world settings, giving businesses the chance to discover young talent, fill skills gaps and bring a fresh perspective to the workplace.

A simple process to bringing new talent on board

Based in Southampton, Rigging Projects is a 10-year-old manufacturing business that produces textile and hardware products for the marine industry. Over the last three years, the business has expanded rapidly. It soon became apparent that there was a lack of skillset within the team, as COO Sam Sainsbury explains: “We’ve got some amazing machinists, but it took me a year and a half to find them and get them to that level. Then there’s a big skills gap. We knew we needed to do some succession planning, so we got in touch with the Southampton College Group.” 

After interviewing a group of T Level students, they found Bradley, who fit in well with the business’s core values and has quickly become part of the team. “The onboarding side was very easy for us,” says Sam. “There were a few online forms, [Bradley] was talked through health and safety procedures with our Head of H&S and that was it.” 

T Level industry placements are designed to be flexible around business’s needs, and can be shared with another employer, done in blocks, or by day release. Bradley completed his placement on a weekly basis, which suited both the business and student. “He’s also chosen to come back in the summer which shows his enthusiasm for the job,” Sam adds.  

All hands-on deck

Bradley was immersed in different parts of the business from the start, from quality control to finishing, part-picking and programming. He also worked on milling and turning. “We wanted to make it fun for him”, says Sam, “so we were keen to find out what he’d get out of it. He has a really positive attitude. It’s always daunting starting in a new business, but he’s grown in confidence to become an integral part of the team.” 

Bradley's enthusiasm and hard work impressed the whole team. “He’s already thinking with a technical mindset. Quality control’s not just about looking at something to see if it looks good, it’s about measuring and tolerancing – he’s picked it up so quickly.”  

A pathway to hiring apprentices

Rigging Projects are on the lookout for their next apprentices and are keen to offer Bradley the chance to join them after he completes his T Level course next year. 

 “Bradley has helped us meet our real business needs through his enthusiasm for work,” Sam says. Would he recommend hosting T Level students to other employers? “Absolutely. It’s so important for growing businesses to find the next generation of engineers. T Level industry placements have helped us with recruitment and given us access to a wide range of people to develop throughout our business. We'll be hosting more T Level students next year.”  

Want to find tomorrow’s manufacturing talent, today?

If you’re interested in hosting a T Level industry placement and finding young, skilled talent for your business visit the T Level website.