Customer Service Apprentice

Are you looking for your first step into a professional career? Do you enjoy helping people, solving problems and learning new skills? If so, our Customer Service Adviser Apprenticeship could be the perfect opportunity for you.

Join one of the UK's top-performing water and sewerage companies and begin your career with a team that's passionate about delivering excellent customer service. Based at our Operations Centre in Bath, you'll be part of a friendly and supportive Customer Contact team, helping customers every day and making a real difference when they need us most.

No two days are the same. You'll handle a variety of inbound customer calls, answer questions, resolve queries and work with colleagues across the business to find the best solutions. Along the way, you'll develop valuable communication, problem-solving and customer service skills that will benefit you throughout your career.

What you'll do

This role will involve:

• helping customers with general enquiries and requests
• investigating and resolving customer concerns
• responding to customer feedback
• working with different teams to find solutions
• providing information about services and support available
• delivering a positive customer experience on every interaction.

As an apprentice, you'll receive full training, support and mentoring from experienced colleagues. We'll teach you everything you need to know, from using our systems and processes to building confidence when speaking with customers and solving problems effectively.

As we're here for our customers 24/7, our team works a variety of shifts across weekdays, weekends and bank holidays. You'll work a rota pattern and always know your shifts 6 months in advance, giving you plenty of time to plan around work.

We also operate a standby rota across the wider team. Once fully trained, this may involve occasional standby cover, averaging around one standby shift per month.

Shift patterns include:

• Monday to Friday: 07:30 – 16:00, 08:00 – 16:30, 08:30 – 17:00, 09:30 – 18:00, 11:30 – 20:00, 13:30 – 22:00.
• Saturday to Sunday: 08:00 – 16:30, 09:30 – 13:30, 11:30 – 20:00
• Bank Holidays: 08:00 – 16:30, 09:30 – 18:00

In addition to this, we operate a standby rota across the wider team, which will mean the occasional standby availability that works out on average to 1 standby per month. 

Standby hours include:

• Monday to Friday 18:00 – 08:00
• Weekends and Bank Holidays: 08:00 – 08:00

What you'll need

You will need:

• excellent communication skills and confidence speaking with a wide range of people on the telephone
• a positive, customer-focused attitude with a genuine desire to help others
• problem-solving skills and a practical approach to finding solutions
• resilience and adaptability when handling challenging situations
• good organisation skills and the ability to manage different tasks and priorities
• teamworking skills and reliability, with a professional approach to supporting colleagues and customers.

No previous experience or industry knowledge is required. Full training will be provided.

We're looking for enthusiastic individuals with the right attitude, strong people skills, passion to help others and a willingness to learn and grow within the business.

Apprenticeship Information

Apprentice standard title

Customer Service Practitioner, Level 2.

Apprenticeship duration

The apprenticeship will take a minimum of 13 months to complete but can be up to 15 months depending on ability and previous skills and knowledge.

On completion of this apprenticeship, you will hold Customer Service Practitioner, Level 2.

Training provision 

Training will be delivered by Weston College, including virtual seminars and lectures. 

The apprenticeship will deliver a training programme of the following skills, knowledge and behaviours:

• understanding the organisation
• meeting regulations and legislation
• systems and resources
• product and service knowledge
• influencing skills
• personal organisation
• dealing with customer conflict and challenge
• developing self
• being open to feedback and team working.

What you'll receive

• A combined pension contribution of up to 20%.
• Career progression and professional development opportunities.
• 25 days' holiday rising to 28 with length of service.
• The opportunity to sell up to five days of holiday every year.
• The opportunity to buy up to ten days of holiday each year (subject to conditions).
• A healthcare package that allows you to claim back healthcare costs.
• Life assurance of up to eight times your salary.
• The opportunity to lease a new electric car through salary sacrifice (subject to conditions).
• Cashback and discounts from more than 3,000 retailers.
• One paid volunteering day each year.
• Enhanced family leave and pay arrangements.
• Access to an interactive health and wellbeing platform.
• Support from trained mental health first aiders.
• A £1,000 referral fee if you recommend someone who is successfully recruited by us.

Who we are

YTL UK is part of the international YTL Group based in Kuala Lumpur. The UK companies include:

• Wessex Water – one of the top-performing water and sewerage companies in England and Wales, serving 2.9 million people across the South West
• YTL Developments – a major UK developer currently redeveloping a 450-acre former airfield into an award-winning, exciting mix of houses, apartments, schools, commercial space, restaurants and hotels, to make a truly sustainable new community
• YTL Construction UK – a top 20 UK contractor providing fully integrated services to infrastructure, residential, commercial, industry, energy and environmental sectors
• YTL Live – the development and operation of an entertainment complex that includes a 20,000 capacity arena, conferencing and exhibition space
• plus a number of other retail, environmental and specialist businesses.

Our people tell us that YTL UK is a great place to work, which is why so many of them stay with us! You will have a unique opportunity to develop and progress your career within such a diverse group.

We are passionate about diversity and inclusion – with that in mind, all applicants are welcome. We are delighted to have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and are a Disability Confident Employer.

If you require reasonable adjustments to be made during the recruitment process, please inform a member of our Recruitment team.