Eighteen electrical and mechanical apprentices. Two locations. Three days. One shared goal: to grow.
From 17–19 March 2026, JLE brought together apprentices from right across New Zealand for the inaugural Apprentice Training & Development Week — a first-of-its-kind event for the business, held across New Plymouth and Hawera.
The week was purpose-built around one idea: that the best investment JLE can make is in its own people — the electrical, mechanical, instrumentation, and inspection trades professionals of tomorrow.
Day One: The Bigger Picture
The week opened in New Plymouth with a full day of presentations and guest speakers, giving our electrical and mechanical apprentices a deeper look into the wider JLE business — the opportunities available across industrial maintenance, fabrication, inspection, and instrumentation, the expectations of working as part of a skilled contractor workforce, and the real impact each person can have across the company.
The day closed with a team challenge that came through loud and clear in feedback as the highlight of the entire week. Not just for the activity itself, but for what it represented: electrical and mechanical apprentices from across the country, many meeting each other for the first time, learning and competing together.
Feedback from the sessions pointed clearly to one preference: apprentices want to be doing, not just listening. It's a note well taken, and one that shaped how the rest of the week was designed.
Day Two: Hands On
Day Two was where the week shifted gear — and the feedback reflected it.
Our electrical and mechanical apprentices rotated through a series of discipline-specific practical stations covering skills core to industrial maintenance, fabrication, inspection, and instrumentation work. Each station was designed to challenge existing trade knowledge and introduce new ones — the kind of hands-on experience that separates good contractors from great ones.
What made it work wasn't just the content. Current JLE tradespeople, some familiar faces from the retired JLE crew, and other industry professionals from across the electrical, mechanical, instrumentation, and inspection fields all rolled up their sleeves to make the day happen. That kind of practical, person-to-person knowledge transfer is exactly what a week like this is built for.
Day Three: The Week's Best Session
The final day moved to Hawera and went out on a high. Electrical and mechanical apprentices came together for a headline practical session - the best single result across the entire week — before getting a cross-trade window into each other's disciplines and what JLE delivers across industrial maintenance, fabrication, inspection, and instrumentation contracting.
By the Numbers
The overall average score across ATDW 2026 was 8.2 out of 10 — a strong result for a first-time event across such a broad range of trades disciplines, and a solid foundation to build on.
What's Next
The feedback from our electrical and mechanical apprentices was constructive and direct — exactly what JLE asked for. Planning for ATDW 2027 is already underway, with refinements in mind across structure, group sizes, and content delivery — ensuring the programme continues to reflect the full breadth of what JLE does across electrical, mechanical, instrumentation, inspection, fabrication, and industrial maintenance contracting.
One piece of feedback summed it up well:
"Amazing week all round — no complaints. Appreciate the time and effort, plus money, put into us apprentices — the investment for the future."
That's the point. ATDW isn't just a training week — it's a statement about how JLE invests in the next generation of trades professionals across every discipline we operate in. We'll see you in 2027.
