As part of United Capital, some of Saltire’s senior leaders recently attended UC22, our group-wide conference which was held in Dubai. It wasn’t only those at the top levels of the business who attended though; each group company also had the opportunity to take along some of the brightest and best young people.

From Saltire came Nicola Barr, who was named the United Capital Rising Star of the Year and Jack Boyd, who was nominated by his peers as Apprentice of the Year. We also had some of our younger developing leaders attend the conference, and we thought it would be a nice idea to get them all inspired and show them a little bit about what the United Capital group is all about.

Well – what did I know! While we thought it would be doing our youngest employees a great service to show them what’s possible, they were more than up for the challenge and showed up absolutely brilliantly. Given a 30-minute breakout session they decided together to set up a United Capital Apprentice Board, which will meet regularly, discuss their development, and report back to the exec board.

It’s a brilliant idea, one they’ll own and make real now that we’re all back at our desks and our days jobs. For me, it was a brilliant demonstration of the level of confidence they have already developed, despite being so early in their careers.

And that’s why I know the future of our company is so bright; with a vibrant and growing apprentice community, our workforce is fairly young, and that makes Saltire a company full of ideas, hustle, and ambition. This generation of young people is proactive and ambitious, and they know they’re in charge of their own futures. As our business continues to grow, these young people will develop into industry leaders with knowledge, passion, and confidence, and that sets Saltire streets ahead of the competition.