Wigan & Leigh College held its Apprenticeship Awards on Tuesday 13th February.
The lavish event, staged at The Edge, Wigan was hosted by TV magician, Ben Hanlin who entertained the audience with his audacious magic as well as announcing the award winners.
The event was a fantastic occasion which allowed the college to celebrate the outstanding achievements of its apprentices alongside their employers.
A host of employers, both big and small attended the awards evening. Larger national employers such as Sellafield Ltd, Electricity North West and Eric Wright Group celebrated alongside local employers such as Wigan Council, Greenmount Projects, Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership and Ally Marketing.
Awards were celebrated from a wide range of apprenticeship industry sectors including digital marketing, customer service, nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering food and drink manufacturing and bricklaying.
The awards event came after national research was published showing Wigan as the best place to be an apprentice nationally and after the college was shortlisted for a national award as the best apprenticeship provider for Engineering & Manufacturing.
College Principal, Anna Dawe highlighted the timely research and the college’s recent successes.
“Wigan Borough is now seen as a national leader in the delivery of apprenticeship programmes and the college plays a central role as it is now one of the largest national college providers of apprenticeship training. This recognition is fabulous and it’s great for Greater Manchester as we work towards the integrated employment and technical skills system, she said.
“Our Awards evening is an amazing occasion to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our apprentices who have excelled in their industries and it was fantastic to hear the inspirational and positive words from their employers about how well they have each done.
“I would also like to thank all of the employers who we work with to forge great business relationships. Their commitment to support and invest in the community and their workforce stands out not just at a regional level but on a national scale.”
ECP HR Advisor at MBDA UK, Gary Bradshaw was at the event to receive the Co-designed Curriculum Award on behalf of the company. He emphasised the importance of hiring apprentices and the scale of how may they work with.
“We currently see it as a talent pipeline moving forward. On average, there's about 8% of the business, either apprentices or graduates. So, this year in total, there's about 440 on scheme. And with the intake for September, that's will increase to about 500 apprentices and graduates,” he said.
In working together with the college, Gary added: “It's definitely progressing the team further and the operation fitter apprentices are definitely getting more out of the scheme.
Martin Morrow, Pre Construction Director for Eric Wright Group attended the awards in support of apprentice, Thomas Lythgoe, who won the Higher Education Civil Engineering Apprentice of the Year.
Martin said: “Apprenticeships are the ideal way for people to enter our industry. And it's something that civil engineering definitely needs more of.
“We're hoping to bring more apprentices through our team as Thomas and others progress. We will hopefully will have a consistent conveyor belt of new people that we can pass the skills and knowledge onto, and we will hopefully work with providers like Wigan and Leigh College to provide that.
Full list of winners:
Marie Baron
Operations Management Apprentice of the Year
Employer - Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership
Keith Ainscough
Food & Drink Manufacturing Apprentice of the Year
Employer - Kraft Heinz
Candice Curtin
Customer Service Apprentice of the Year
Employer - Wigan Council
Jessica Barlow
Digital Marketing Apprentice of the Year
Employer - Ally Marketing
Natalya Diallo
Health & Social Care Apprentice of the Year
Employer - Making Space
Lily Grimal
Painting & Decorating Apprentice of the Year
Employer - Julian & Son
Tom McDermott
Carpentry & Joinery Apprentice of the Year
Employer - BD Joinery
Josh Whittaker
Bricklaying Apprentice of the Year
Employer - J Sidlow Brickwork
Aiden McGuire
Mechanical Engineering Apprentice of the Year
Employer - Whittle Valve Repairs Ltd
Alex Sixsmith
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Apprentice of the Year
Employer - UK Industrial Control Systems
Leon Akrigg
Craft Power Network Apprentice of the Year
Employer - Electricity North West
Thomas Lythgoe
Higher Education Civil Engineering Apprentice of the Year
Employer - Eric Wright Group
Faye Taylor
Higher Education Electrical & Electronic Engineering Apprentice of the Year
Employer - Science and Technology Facilities Council
James Hewitson
Higher Education Nuclear Technician
Employer - Cavendish Nuclear
Bethany Jones
Higher Education Nuclear Scientist
Employer - Sellafield Ltd
Faye Taylor
Overall Apprentice of the Year
Employer - Science and Technology Facilities Council
- Kraft Heinz - Social Value Award
- Electricity North West - STEM Award
- MBDA UK – Co-designed Curriculum Award
- Sellafield Ltd – Equality and Careers Award
- Greenmount Projects – Social Value Award