This Small Business Saturday, award winning apprenticeship employer Olamalu is encouraging other small businesses to celebrate their apprenticeship success by entering the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards 2025.
Witney-based web technology business Olamalu helps organisations to work better through their clever use of technology. They build websites, intranets and apps and solve unique business challenges, working with clients every step of the way to deliver tech solutions which meet today’s needs, but are also flexible enough for the future.
From the moment the business was started over 10 years ago, opening up opportunities for young people to join the technology industry has been at the heart of the way Olamalu operates.
Director Kate Berman says: “Getting started as a software developer is hard and companies often only want to hire developers with a degree and several years of experience. One of the biggest upsides to building our business from the ground up is that we can craft things our way and incorporate the things that are important to us. So we decided to follow a different path and develop our own entry-level programme for young people. Apprenticeships form a vital part of this and it’s working.”
“We’re proud to say that 50% of our team came through the apprenticeship route, and our business wouldn’t be where it is today without them. The combination of academic learning and hands-on experience is invaluable for the apprentices and the wider team. It’s a joy to see our apprentices grow their skills and knowledge and to see them take on bigger roles as they progress.”
“Our apprentices join as junior developers and we prepare them to take on full stack developer roles with us. As they progress, they take on increasing responsibility for projects, internal initiatives and more junior developers. Our most experienced current apprentice has taken on responsibility for the learning and development of the less experienced apprentices and will be moving into a team management role when he graduates. Our two apprenticeship graduates from previous apprenticeship programmes have both moved on to more senior roles in the business. One is now our lead designer and the other is an experienced project manager.”
In May 2024, Olamalu won the Apprenticeship Employer Award (<250 employees) at the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards and decided to sponsor the category at the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards 2025 to continue flying the flag for small organisations that employ apprentices. They are encouraging small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to enter to showcase the value that apprentices bring to their workplaces and demonstrate why apprenticeships work for small businesses.
Kate says: “Winning the award was an incredible feeling after all the hard work we’ve put into getting the scheme up and running and was a great opportunity to raise awareness with other businesses on how rewarding an apprenticeship scheme can be.”
Olamalu went on to achieve national recognition as an apprenticeship employer, winning the highly commended award in the SME Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (for organisations with 1 to 249 employees) at the National Apprenticeship and Skills Awards last week (27 November), having won the South East regional final in October. They are looking forward to using their success at national level to help inspire other SMEs to invest in apprenticeships.
Olamalu’s current apprenticeship programme is focused on a degree apprenticeship in digital technologies. This offers the apprentice the chance to earn a degree as they work in the industry, graduating with no student debt and several years’ experience of practical, relevant work. At the end of the apprenticeship, there are opportunities to progress to next level of role and to keep on growing and learning in the ever-evolving digital world.
Olamalu are currently recruiting for their next apprentice, who will be undertaking a Software Development Degree Apprenticeship starting in summer 2025. To find out more and apply, visit: https://www.olamalu.com/software-development-degree-apprentice
Small Business Saturday UK is a grassroots, non-commercial campaign that takes place on the first Saturday in December each year to highlight small business success. OxLEP Skills is encouraging SMEs to showcase their apprenticeship success this Small Business Saturday (7 December) by entering the Oxfordshire Apprenticeship Awards 2025. To enter your business or nominate your apprentices, please visit: https://oxlepskills.co.uk/oaawards
Olamalu benefitted from education company Pearson’s apprenticeship levy and knowledge transfer fund to help set up their apprenticeship programme. If you own, or work for, a small business, social enterprise or charity and would like to follow in the footsteps of Olamalu by setting up your own apprenticeship scheme, OxLEP Skills has £1M in apprenticeship levy funds available to support local employers with apprenticeship training and assessment costs. These funds have been pledged by employers that pay the apprenticeship levy but don’t utilise all the funds themselves. Find out more at: https://oxlepskills.co.uk/apprenticeshipsupport