APPRENTICESHIP AWARDS 2018: Celebrating our region's amazing young apprentices

The awards’ first outing last year was a huge success and everyone hopes this year will be even bigger and better.

In anticipation of the big day, two industry experts came to the Star’s offices to talk about the benefits apprentices bring.

Zena Wardle is a HR manager of 12 years’ standing for major South Yorkshire manufacturer Polypipe, the awards’ headline sponsor.

And James Harkness is the marketing manager of one of the leading national awarding organisations, NOCN.

They were invited by Rob Hollingworth, managing editor of the Star, Sheffield Telegraph and Doncaster Free Press to talk about the importance they place on training the next generation.

He wanted to know if the experts agreed with TV Dragon Theo Paphitis that we were living through a ‘golden age’ for apprenticeships.

Zena said the impact of apprenticeships was now being felt throughout their company.

She said: “There is a clear pathway now – at Polypipe we have former apprentices who are now directors.

“And this year we have our first ever female apprentice which we are really excited about.

“The apprentices we are seeing come to us now want more – their expectations are a lot higher.

“What we have to do is make sure we have high standards in place so we can take them to the next stage.”

James said NOCN were particularly keen to get behind the awards as their current managing director Graham Hasting-Evans is a former apprentice himself.

“We are getting to the point now where apprenticeships are valued as much as degrees,” he said.

“Some industries like construction are more used to it than others but the other sectors are catching up all the time.”

“And there has been a sea change in the way the government is behind it – they are really listening.”

Zena also revealed at the meeting that Polypipe were currently supervising their first ever degree level apprenticeship.

“Schools are being more open-minded now so there is definitely a change there,” she said.

“We do ‘speed dating’ sessions with students to help them make their decision and the young people all ask how much we get paid and what kind of cars we drive.

“And parents are more on board now as they can see the value of earning while doing an apprenticeship rather than having to pay university fees.

“Placements are not the same because with an apprenticeship you are actually investing in a person.”

However, James said there was still work to be done in creating a ‘parity of esteem’ between apprenticeships, A-levels and degrees.

“The way we are looking at it now is that there are lots of different ways to get to the same point and you can pick and choose between them,” he said.

“The task now is to get the people who are giving advice to pupils not to be biased – there is still a stigma with some.

“But when you see some of the stories from the apprentices that breaks that down straight away.

“They bring in new ideas which can refresh the business – and in five or 10 years time they could be the director.”

How to enter

The awards will take place on May 15 at the Showroom Cinema and Workstation in Sheffield.

They will be hosted by Ashleigh Porter-Exley, the winner of the final series of the BBC’s Young Apprentice programme.

Ashleigh, aged 22, started work at 13 and at one stage worked four jobs as well as studying.

At the age of 17 she was chosen to appear on Young Apprentice out of 38,000 who applied, with Lord Sugar naming her the winner on account of her ‘sheer and utter graft’.

Since then, she has gone on to work with thousands of young people across the country and has recently been named a Queen’s Young Leader for her hard work and passion as an Apprentice and Enterprise Ambassador.

To register your interest, visit the dedicated website.

Those who register before the end of February will have a chance of winning a free ‘critique plus’ service from professional awards writer Lucinda White.

And Lucinda will also be running two free workshops to assist prospective applicants with their entries where she will offer helpful advice and reveal exactly what the judges will be looking for.

These will take place at the Derbyshire Times offices on Spire Walk in Chesterfield on Thursday, March 1 and at The Star offices on Pinfold Street in Sheffield on Thursday, March 8.

Registration for both sessions is at 10am with the course starting at 10.30 and finishing at noon.

The closing date for applications is Thursday, March 29.