Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week with Loadpoint

Welcome to National Apprenticeship Week at Loapoint!

National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) 2024 is the 17th annual celebration of apprenticeships. The week brings together everyone passionate about apprenticeships to celebrate the value, benefits and opportunities they bring.

Join us in celebrating our apprentices and the essence of skill development. In this blog, our apprentices share their experiences, challenges, and triumphs on the path to professional growth and excellence. It's a glimpse into the heart of our apprenticeship programs and their incredible journeys.

Meet Our Apprentices!

Get ready to hear directly from the stars of our apprenticeship program, Ryan and Dora!

After completing my A-levels, I decided to pursue an apprenticeship in engineering. From a young age, I would help my dad who has a carpentry business. By working with him I discovered I am quite hands on and good at solving problems. I chose engineering because I liked maths and physics and I always seemed to understand how objects and mechanisms interact and function.  

After many interviews, I applied to Loadpoint. I was greeted and interviewed by a production supervisor and Emma our HR Manager who explained to me how air bearings worked, I instantly became interested in how they are made and the application of them. After meeting the staff, I could sense that the team had a family-like relationship which many other companies did not. This attracted me to Loadpoint and I was pleased when I found out I had got the job.  

I started a machining technician course in September 2022. After a year of gaining engineering experience, I decided to progress to a manufacturing engineering degree apprenticeship which is a 5-year course. Loadpoint supports my apprenticeship by providing training and knowledge in different departments of manufacturing.   

My day-to-day work contributes to my development as I am often involved in creating tooling and fixtures and coming up with ways to solve problems. A manufacturing engineer is someone who oversees and understands the creation of a product from the design phase all the way through manufacture. By solving problems and learning how different processes and machines work, I am gaining important knowledge that I will use for the rest of my career. 

Loadpoint recently created the Above and Beyond award scheme which promotes new ideas that benefit the company by saving time or cost. I think this is a good idea as it promotes innovation and improvement. In August, I jointly won the Above and Beyond award for making a fixture that allows 8 components to be surface ground simultaneously when previously only one component could be ground at a time. This saved setup and running time which ultimately saves money. I was awarded a £200 Virgin experience day and half a day’s leave.

I think the apprenticeship scheme is the best way to gain experience and knowledge in any field of study. The advantage of an apprenticeship over the traditional route of university is that you can learn and gain experience in doing the job while qualifying. This gives apprentices an edge over university graduates as apprentices will already have the training and knowledge to do the job whereas a graduate will not have the same level of experience.  

I had been working in the manufacturing industry for 5 years, before I joined the Loadpoint team as an apprentice. Even though I had a good level of knowledge, I wanted to learn more and increase my level of qualifications. 

I was nervous about the new role, but the support provided at college and my colleagues at Loadpoint helped me slowly gain confidence. 

I've been lucky to join a strong team, and my manager is a great mentor, teaching me the highest level of machining. I am now using the knowledge learnt to pass on to some of my colleagues.  And honestly, I'm very excited for my future at Loadpoint, as a skilled professional. 

Loadpoint is passionate about investing in our apprentices, ensuring that they gain valuable experience in all areas of the Company, whilst personally thriving, supporting our growth and gaining opportunities for career development in the future.