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Customer Service Apprentice
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Customer Service Apprentice
Elliotts Builders Merchant Southampton (SO40 9AH)
Closes in 14 days (Friday 23 October 2026 at 11:59pm)
Posted on 8 October 2026
Summary
This isn't just a job, it's a career. You'll join one of our smaller branches, and that's a big plus. In this small team you'll get involved in everything: the trade counter, quotes, looking after customers and so much more. You'll see how the whole branch works. You'll be joining a team who want you to do well and grow.
Wage
£16,640 for your first year, then could increase depending on your age
Training course
Customer service specialist (level 3)
Hours
8.00am - 5.00pm, Monday to Friday (TBC). 40 hours a week
Start date
Monday 9 November 2026
Duration
1 year 4 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
Within your working day, you'll be working towards your Apprenticeship with HTP Apprenticeship College whilst:
- Getting to know our products, from timber and bricks to everything else a job needs
- Serving trade and home customers at the counter, on the phone and by email
- Working out prices and quotes for customers' jobs
- Getting out in the yard, checking in deliveries and loading up customers
- Seeing how we plan deliveries and get materials out to sites on time
- Learning how we order stock and make sure we've got what customers need
- Finding out what makes a branch successful, from looking after customers to making a profit
- Working alongside your Branch Manager to see how a branch is run day to day
- Spending time with other branches and teams across Elliotts
Where you'll work
Rushington Business Park
Chapel Lane
Totton
Southampton
SO40 9AH
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
HTP APPRENTICESHIP COLLEGE LTD
Training course
Customer service specialist (level 3)
What you'll learn
Course contents
Business focused service delivery:
- Demonstrate a continuous improvement and future focussed approach to customer service delivery including decision making and providing recommendations or advice
- Resolve complex issues by being able to choose from and successfully apply a wide range of approaches
- Find solutions that meet your organisations needs as well as the customer requirements
Providing a positive customer experience:
- Through advanced questioning, listening and summarising negotiate mutually beneficial outcomes
- Manage challenging and complicated situations within your level of authority and make recommendations to enable and deliver change to service or strategy
- Use clear explanations, provide options and solutions to influence and help customers make choices and agree next steps
- Explore and interpret the customer experience to inform and influence achieving a positive result for customer satisfaction
- Demonstrate a cost conscious mind-set when meeting customer and the business needs
- Identifying where highs and lows of the customer journey produce a range of emotions in the customer
- Use written and verbal communication to simplify and provide complex information in a way that supports positive customer outcome in the relevant format
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Working with customers/customer insights:
- Proactively gather customer feedback, through a variety of methods. Critically analyse, and evaluate the meaning, implication and facts and act upon it
- Analyse your customer types, to identify or anticipate their potential needs and expectations when providing your service
Customer Service performance:
- Maintain a positive relationship even when you are unable to deliver the customer’s expected outcome
- When managing referrals or escalations take into account historical interactions and challenges to determine next steps
Service Improvement:
- Analyse the end to end service experience, seeking input from others where required, supporting development of solutions
- Make recommendations based on your findings to enable improvement
- Make recommendations and implement where possible, changes in line with new and relevant legislation, regulations and industry best practice
Training schedule
You'll work towards the Customer Service Specialist apprenticeship with HTP Apprenticeship College. We'll look to start you at Level 3, but we'll make sure that it fits you. If you're the right candidate but Level 2 is a better starting point, that's fine. What matters is that you're learning at the right pace.
You'll have your own Apprenticeship Coach from HTP, plus support from your Branch Manager and the team every day.
As part of the off-the-job training, you will complete a portfolio of evidence, attend online workshops, have time to study independently, undertake research and write assignments. The apprenticeship is assessed independently at the end of the practical training. The assessments include a practical observation of you in the workplace, a work based project and a professional discussion based on a portfolio of evidence.
More training information
For more information on HTP Apprenticeship College: www.htp.ac.uk
Requirements
Desirable qualifications
- GCSE in: English & Maths (grade 4-9 or A*-C)
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- IT skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Customer care skills
- Problem solving skills
- Administrative skills
- Number skills
- Analytical skills
- Team working
- Initiative
- Non judgemental
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Other requirements
You don't need experience in our industry. We'll teach you that. We're more interested in who you are:
- You're friendly, chatty and good with people
- You have an interest in kitchens, bathrooms, interiors or design
- You're organised and care about getting the details right
- You can use a computer and email (we'll train you on our systems)
- You stay calm when it's busy and can juggle a few things at once
- You like solving problems and will have a go before asking for help
- You're keen to learn and want to build a career, not just get a job
About this employer
Elliotts is a family owned builders' merchant. We've been serving customers across the South of England since 1842. Today the business is led by Tom, the great-great-great grandson of our founder.
Being family owned means we think long term, and that includes our people. We'd much rather grow our own talent than look outside every time a role comes up. Lots of our team have been with us for years, and many have worked their way up. We keep things simple. We know our customers, work safely, deliver what we promise and look out for each other. Decisions are made in our branches, by the people closest to the customer.
Company benefits
- Annual profit share scheme
- Company pension
- 22 days holiday plus bank holidays
- Full product and systems training
- Unlimited training to help you keep growing
- Cycle to work scheme
- 24/7 wellbeing support
- Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
- Staff discounts
- Christmas hamper
- Pizza on us every month
- Free parking on-site
After this apprenticeship
Your earnings can increase over time with an apprenticeship. Find out about potential future pay (opens in new tab).
Upon successful completion of the apprenticeship, there may be the opportunity for a permanent role.
Many people who start in admin go on to build careers in areas like:
- Office management
- Estimating
- Finance
- Contracts management
- Project support
If you’re motivated, curious, and ready to learn, we’ll help you grow.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
HTP APPRENTICESHIP COLLEGE LTD
Tim Coates
tim.coates@htp.ac.uk
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000058022.
Apply now
Closes in 14 days (Friday 23 October 2026 at 11:59pm)
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