Hosted by the National Apprenticeship Service, the National Apprentice Awards recognise excellence in businesses that grow their own talent through apprenticeships, and apprentices who have made a significant contribution to their workplaces.
Aimee Wilkinson, a fourth year Project Management Degree Apprentice in the Air Sector was named as this year’s Rising Star in the South East region awards. The Rising Star Award is given to apprentices who have made impressive progress in their career to date and who show potential to take their career path to the very top of their chosen profession.
In the North West region Leigh Carter, Level 2 Caulking Apprentice, Submarines was named Intermediate Apprentice of the Year and Craft Apprentice Lucas Benson, Air, the region’s Advanced Apprentice of the year. Michael Oliver, Designer, Submarines was Highly Commended in the Advanced Apprentice category. A judging panel will now choose the overall national apprenticeship award winners in each category at the National Apprentice Awards which take place in November.
Richard Hamer, Director of Education and Skills, UK said:
“It’s fantastic that our commitment to growing our own talent has been recognised in the South West region. We’re proud of the investment we make in apprenticeships and it will be great to showcase this at the national awards. Our statistics clearly demonstrate the priority we place on apprenticeships: 1,500 apprentices in training; £60m annual investment and 100% securing permanent roles. But what’s more impressive are the stories of success like we’ve seen in the achievements made by Aimee, Leigh, Lucas and Michael. We wish them all luck in the next stage of the awards and in their future careers.”
Ted Creighton, Head of Early Careers in the UK said:
“The awards are great personal achievements for winners and being named Macro Employer of the Year in the region demonstrates the hard work and commitment of everyone in the company involved in recruiting, training, supporting and working in teams with our apprentices. Hopefully our success will be recognised nationally at the final stage in November.”
In separate schemes, Higher Apprentice Project Manager Ahmed Munshi Air sector, has been shortlisted in the engineering category of the National Asian Apprentice Awards and Charlie Murphy, Apprentice and Skills Manager, Naval Ships, in Glasgow is shortlisted as Apprentice Instructor of the year at the Skills Development Scotland Scottish Apprentice Awards. These Awards events also take place in November.
Apprentice recruitment opens on 1 November 2018.
Find out more about our apprentice winners
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Aimee Wilkinson, Project Management Degree Apprenticeship, Air
Rising Star, National Apprenticeship Awards South East
Recruited in 2014, Aimee is in the final year of a degree apprenticeship in Project Management. After a cross-business unit move, she is currently working in Electronic Systems on the Striker II helmet project, having spent her previous three placements in the Air sector. Aimee has achieved a Distinction in her Foundation Degree and is now on track to achieve a First Class Honours Degree in Project Management in 2019.
In Aimee’s nomination form, Sharon Birchall, Project Management Early Careers said:
“From the outset Aimee’s capabilities were apparent. She asked many questions and quickly began to offer ideas and suggestions for improvements. In her first placement, she performed tasks which would normally be carried out by experienced project managers and was awarded ‘Above and Beyond’ recognition for creating and implementing a process the improved how the team worked.
“In her second placement, she identified inefficiencies in a data manipulation process, creating a solution which has saved the company around £80m a year. Aimee is an active STEM Ambassador and excellent role model for Project Management apprentices. She has all the skills and attributes to enable her to become a future leader in our company.”
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Lucas Benson, Craft Apprentice, Air,
Winner - Advanced Apprentice of the year, North West National Apprentice Awards
Former HGV Mechanic, Lucas is an Apprentice Fitter, currently working in F-35 manufacturing. Now in his final placement working on Vertical Tail fairings, Lucas has identified and implemented process improvements in many of his placements, saving both cost and hours. He designed a tool to tighten and loosen skin pins, saving over five hours per rear fuselage build, reducing the risk of repetitive strain injury and blisters, whilst ensuring the skin pins are the correct tightness. Lucas has dyslexia but this has not prevented him from achieving double distinctions in his ONC and is on-track to achieve Distinction in this current study – an HNC in Aeronautical Engineering.
Lucas said: “During my time as a BAE Systems Apprentice, I’ve achieved personal and professional growth beyond my expectations. This included organising a charity event to pull a Typhoon down the runway. It took three months of hard work, dedication and desire to deliver a show-stopping charity event which raised over four thousand pounds for our Innovation Challenge charity – Fisher House. Being trusted by the customer to pull an £80m aircraft, organising the event, liaising with stakeholders and networking has greatly improved my confidence and ability to work across functions. I’m honoured to be working with the most cutting-edge aircraft alongside the best engineers in their field.”
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Michael Oliver, Designer, Submarines
Highly Commended - Advanced Apprentice of the year, North West National Apprentice Awards
Michael has completed his Advanced Apprenticeship and currently works in the Submarines design offices.
Michael said: “I didn’t really expect to get through the initial screening let alone be highly commended for my efforts in my apprenticeship. I have really enjoyed learning from the people I work with. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience in this business and it’s amazing what you can learn from people if you have the drive to apply yourself and listen. I am proud of how much I have changed during my apprenticeship. I’ve become more confident and more willing to get involved in opportunities I would have avoided in the past, many of which I’ve continued to be involved in since my apprenticeship finished in March.”
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