Bridgwater & Taunton College has celebrated the achievements of its apprenticeship cohort at a glitzy awards ceremony at the McMillan Theatre, as part of National Apprenticeship Week.
The college currently has 3,000 apprentices enrolled on programmes with more than 1,400 employers, making it the largest provider of apprenticeships in the Southwest.
The Intermediate Apprentice of the Year award was won by Leonie Perrett, who, during her level 2 apprenticeship, has progressed to assistant production manager at Goose & Gander, a young up and coming clothing company in Chipping Sodbury.
Phoebe Loveridge was awarded the prize for Advanced Apprentice of the Year. A Ministry of Defence (MoD) representative said: “She is a consummate professional and can be trusted to represent the apprenticeship, engineering and the MoD as an outstanding ambassador.”
Michael Jones, a manufacturing engineering apprentice at Thales UK, took the Higher/Degree Level Apprentice of the Year Award. He started his career young, becoming professionally registered as an engineering technician at the age of 17. He is very ambitious in his studies and is already far exceeding the expectations of his employer.
The Rising Star Award was presented to Callum Matthews, who has developed his skills, knowledge and confidence in leaps and bounds since the start of his apprenticeship with Bylor. His college tutor describes him as dedicated and keen to learn, with the potential to go far in his civil engineering career.
The awards event was also an opportunity to thank the partner employers that the college works with to deliver apprenticeships to such a high standard, with M-CNC Engineering, Bylor and Thatchers Cider winning the Small, Large and Overall Employer of the Year awards, respectively.
