Business and Customer service Apprenticeship

Summary

7 generations, W Crowder & Sons Ltd has been shaped into the friendly, reliable, and skilled company we are today. While working with us you will benefit from the wealth of knowledge and experience. You will have the opportunity to experience and learn from different areas of the business, from office based sales and administration to horticulture.

Wage

£15,311.40 for your first year, then could increase depending on your age

National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices

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Training course

Customer service practitioner (level 2)

Hours

Monday- Thursday: 8am- 5pm Friday: 8am- 4pm

39 hours a week

Start date

Monday 30 June 2025

Duration

1 year 3 months

Positions available

1

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

First point of contact for customers; dealing proactively and efficiently with any customer enquiries (orders, payments, collections) with attention to detail
Maintaining the customer quotation records
Assist in the marketing sector, keeping our social media platforms up-to-date, professional, and engaging
Work with our account managers using our horticulture-tailored stock and administration database system - Wintree
Alongside Boston College, work towards completing a Level 2 Business and Customer Services Apprenticeship Qualification to support you in your role

Where you'll work

Lincoln Road
Horncastle
LN9 5LZ

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

College or training organisation

BOSTON COLLEGE

Your training course

Customer service practitioner (level 2)

Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)

What you'll learn

Course contents

Use a range of questioning skills, including listening and responding in a way that builds rapport, determines customer needs and expectations and achieves positive engagement and delivery.
Depending on your job role and work environment: Use appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication skills, along with summarising language during face-to-face communications; and/or
Depending on your job role and work environment: Use appropriate communication skills, along with reinforcement techniques (to confirm understanding) during non-facing customer interactions.
Depending on your job role and work environment: Use an appropriate ‘tone of voice’ in all communications, including written and digital, that reflect the organisation’s brand.
Provide clear explanations and offer options in order to help customers make choices that are mutually beneficial to both the customer and your organisation.
Be able to organise yourself, prioritise your own workload/activity and work to meet deadlines.
Demonstrate patience and calmness.
Show you understand the customer’s point of view.
Use appropriate sign-posting or resolution to meet your customers needs and manage expectations.
Maintain informative communication during service recovery.

Your training plan

This training plan has not been finalised. Check with this employer if you’ll need to travel to a college or training location for this apprenticeship.

Requirements

Desirable qualifications

GCSE in:

English (grade 4)
Maths (grade 4)

Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

Skills

Communication skills
IT skills
Attention to detail
Organisation skills
Customer care skills
Problem solving skills
Team working
Initiative

About this company

Crowders Nurseries began as a horticultural business in 1798 in Lincolnshire. We have been growing and nurturing plants for more than 220 years, steeped in the practices and techniques needed to produce plants with long lives of the highest quality. We aim to be the best horticultural specialists in our field, providing market-leading solutions for our customers. We are a nationally renowned wholesale grower – from high-end private domestic schemes to large national infrastructure programmes. From our three sites in Lincolnshire, we propagate many of the plants grown in our nursery, which ensures a consistent quality. Crowders supply the full range of nursery stock products, including container-grown, bare-root and root-balled plants, hedging and forestry, herbaceous, perennial plants, ornamental shrubs, screening and trees from certified and traceable stock. We supply these solutions to government organisations, local authorities, landscape contractors, landscape architects and construction firms throughout the UK and the Channel Islands. Crowders Nurseries is part of the RSK Group, a leading integrated environmental, engineering, and technical services business providing dynamic, multidisciplinary services to a wide range of sectors. RSK was founded in 1989 and has grown considerably since then. At RSK, we operate as a group of businesses that work together seamlessly, aiming for growth through diversification. Our strategy helps us build a strong and resilient business, capable of weathering external challenges, while also providing greater value to our clients and more opportunities for our employees. Since the beginning, our philosophy has remained the same: employ, develop and reward talented individuals. People are crucial to our company, and we recognise that our success hinges on our colleagues' growth. We're committed to preserving RSK's people-first culture, promoting innovation, and fostering a supportive and caring environment for collaboration. At RSK, we want you to be part of our successes and help you reach your career aspirations. We take pride in offering employees fulfilling and challenging careers by promoting ongoing growth and empowering individuals to excel

https://www.crowdersnurseries.co.uk/ (opens in new tab)

After this apprenticeship

At RSK, we want you to be part of our successes and help you reach your career aspirations. We take pride in offering employees fulfilling and challenging careers by promoting ongoing growth and empowering individuals to excel.

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