Celebration of Success for Apprenticeship Schemes

As part of National Apprenticeship week, Newbury College held its annual Apprenticeship Awards Ceremony on Monday 14 March with guest speaker, Andy Murrill, Editor of the Newbury Weekly News. The event celebrated the success of local Apprentices and recognised the support of their employers.

The evening began with a welcome from Principal Dr Anne Murdoch OBE, before Joe Pringle, a Business Administration Apprentice at Hitachi, gave a speech to the audience about why he choose to study an Apprenticeship instead of going to University, and his experience of the programme. The ceremony concluded with an inspirational talk from guest speaker for the night, Andy Murrill, on his career in the press industry and the importance of achieving job satisfaction.

Nominees, employers, College Governors and award sponsors attended the evening at the College’s Monks Lane campus, along with VIP guests including: Chairman of West Berkshire Council, Councillor Peter Argyle, The Mayor of Newbury, Councillor Howard Bairstow, The Mayor of Thatcham, Councillor Shelia Ellison and Corporate Director of West Berkshire Council Rachael Wardell.

The awards were generously sponsored by some of West Berkshire’s leading employers and organisations, including; ApplePrint & Creative, AWE, FutureSense, Hitachi Capital, Intersurgical, Newbury College, PC Cox Ltd, Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce, Thatcham Automotive Academy and Xtrac Ltd.

Newbury College Principal, Dr Anne Murdoch OBE, said, “The Apprenticeship Awards Ceremony is a wonderful occasion for apprentices, employers, friends and family to celebrate the outstanding achievements of all those involved in the programme. Newbury College is committed to working with local employers, and we are very grateful to all our sponsors for their generosity in sponsoring each of the awards presented. Our thanks also goes to Andy Murrill, Editor of Newbury Weekly News, for his inspirational talk to the audience”.

There were a number of award categories, which included: Best Apprentice in a large, medium and small business; Best Engineering Apprentice; Workplace Mentor Award; Assessor Award; Outstanding Contribution Award.  This year the Peter Atkinson Gold Award for Outstanding Achievement; named in memory of the late Peter Atkinson, a member of The Chamber who showed continued support and dedication to the development of young people, was awarded to Jamie Rusbridge, Engineering Apprentice at Xtrac Ltd.

The event was part of the ninth annual National Apprenticeship Week which this year took place from 14-18 March 2016, with hundreds of events taking place across the country.

Apprenticeships are an excellent way of gaining qualifications alongside workplace experience. They bring considerable value to organisations, employers, individuals and the economy. As an Apprentice, you can earn as you learn and gain practical skills from the workplace. Apprenticeships create a lot of advantages not only in terms of a highly skilled workforce but also by boosting productivity and staff retention.

Newbury College offers a wide range of business to business training as well as providing Apprenticeship programmes for all organisations, small or large.  For further information about how we can help you please call us on 01635 845000, email us at [email protected] or visit our website www.newbury-college.ac.uk