A St Albans business has welcomed the third generation of its founding family to its ranks.

Herts Advertiser: Father and son John and Luke Allam are now both working at Amthal Fire and Security.Father and son John and Luke Allam are now both working at Amthal Fire and Security. (Image: Archant)

Luke Allam, son of Amthal Fire and Security founder and operations director John, has started as an apprentice engineer under the company's successful apprenticeship scheme.

Amthal was originally established by John Allam and Paul Rosenthal, who have been friends since they were nine, attending Verulam School together.

After initially heading along different career paths, John and Paul, together with their respective partners, joined forces to form Amthal in 2000.

John's parents, Ann and Bob were with the company from the outset, and brother Jamie Allam completed the management team in 2008.

Now Luke has become the latest Allam to join the team: "Amthal has always been part of my life, and when the opportunity of work experience was presented, I grasped the chance to see what it was all about, and understand the commitment of the Allam family to the business

" It was clear to see and I had a great time working in such a positive environment that I wanted to stay and learn more, which the spprenticeship scheme now provides."

The Level 3 Apprenticeship course in Fire Emergency and Security Systems is delivered by a combination of college based classroom learning and on the job training, mentored by Amthal's experienced team of engineers. All works and progress are monitored externally.

Luke will be shadowing the established company services, learning about design, installation and monitoring of latest smart solutions, including intruder, CCTV, access control and fire systems for residential and commercial applications.

Dad John said: "Naturally I'm delighted and very proud to welcome Luke on board as the next generation Allam joining our family business. Luke joining was his decision and commitment to Amthal after doing work experience in the summer.

"We see as parents and as a company supporter of apprenticeships, there has been a significant change in attitudes towards vocational learning.

"This is reflected in the number of young people that are now choosing to go down this route as their first choice.

"Luke was determined from the outset and already making his own mark and identity on our engineering team."