Mercuri International have a passion for celebrating their apprentices. Each quarter they select two apprentices to become Mercuri Ambassadors. The apprentices will have demonstrated one or more of the following attributes: proactivity, resilience, strong work ethic, personal integrity and professionalism as well as attainment and commercial success.
This quarter, recognition goes to Jess Summersgill, a development manager at CCS Media and is currently undertaking a CMI accredited Team Leader Level 3 Apprenticeship with Mercuri, and Charlotte Rutherford, a commercial apprentice at Portakabin and is currently undertaking the Sales Executive Level 4 Apprenticeship with Mercuri.
“Jess showed great organisation and motivation to her team”
Amran Naseem, Learning & Development Coach at Mercuri, said: “Having applied the knowledge from her apprenticeship in her role, she has seen massive change in her team members’ performance through the use of different coaching techniques. One of Jess’s greatest achievements has been developing a learner who was the lowest-performing in the team to the highest performing, in the space of a few months. She has used the techniques from the Team Leader programme combined with output of our one-to-one coaching sessions. Jess is new to the management role and has been absorbing everything step by step. She has been nominated for the BAME apprenticeship awards through her organisation. Jess has had great feedback from her line manager in our one-to-ones. I’ve seen significant improvement in her grasp of this new role, implementing change, keeping up with her learning and motivating her team through these tough times.”
Julie Nicholson, Head of Academy at CCS Media commented: “Jess has recently taken on her first own team of apprentices and she has worked really hard to get the new cohort inducted into the roles. She has planned their induction and introduced great ideas to keep the team motivated and productive. Jess has used the skills she has been learning through her own apprenticeship and this has resulted in some great wins, members of Jess’s team have already made sales in the first month! This is a true testament to all the hard work Jess puts in each day and it is great that Jess can also relate back to her own apprenticeship to engage with her team. Jess is an absolute pleasure to work with and it is great to see Jess making the role her own.”
Q&A with Jess:
What’s the best thing about being an apprentice?
“I think the best part of being an apprentice is the opportunity to work towards a qualification while gaining real industry experience and making a salary. Blended learning including on the job, learning from the experiences of others, virtual instructor-led training and independent written work give you a very rounded view of industries and roles that is more difficult with a normal job or studying full time.”
How would you say apprentices help employers?
“Apprentices are an investment in organic growth for a business. The saying ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’ comes to mind and I believe this does apply to apprenticeships and investing in development of employees. I joined CCS Media as an apprentice straight out of school, however three years in and working on my second apprenticeship I now manage the new apprentices. They are starting where I did straight from school and I am still enhancing my knowledge and skill-set to take on additional responsibility.
“I believe apprenticeships help employers by skilling the workforce in the areas they need and this can be extremely rewarding long term as the experience they build is specific to your business.”
Can you share with us your thoughts on becoming a Mercuri Ambassador?
“I am extremely pleased to be a Mercuri Ambassador and hope to be able to speak to a wider audience about the success apprenticeships can bring to businesses and individuals. I really do see my skills and knowledge improving after every module and I thank Amran Naseem, my Learning Development Coach, for going above and beyond to help develop and empower me to achieve.”
“Charlotte is an enthusiastic learner, not afraid to push herself”
Tom Hunter, Learning & Development Coach at Mercuri, said: “Charlotte joined her company 12 months ago having never worked in sales. Over the duration of this programme Charlotte has grown in confidence in several areas. Her presentation skills and confidence in front of a camera have really developed. Charlotte’s employer has commented several times on how much she has grown in to her role and is already taking on additional tasks and activities and supporting other members of the team. Charlotte’s competence and understanding of sales has also increased. This has been evident in the quality of her submissions. Charlotte is an enthusiastic learner and is not afraid to push herself out of her comfort zone. Since joining the apprenticeship programme the difference in Charlotte’s confidence has been significant, this was acknowledged by both Charlotte and her employer at the recent quarterly review. In terms of distance travelled Charlotte is one of the learners that has travelled the furthest.”
Rahela Begum, Hire Manager at Portakabin, commented: “The growth in Charlotte over the past 12 months has been phenomenal. She continues to impress me with her willingness to support the team and her increased confidence. Charlotte has very much become an integral and valuable part of the team.”
Q&A with Charlotte:
What’s the best thing about being an apprentice?
“The best thing I would say about being an apprentice is that you aren’t expected to know everything and that everything you do, big or small, is always a learning curve. You also have the chance to not only learn your job itself, but learn more in depth about the sales world, which is something you wouldn’t necessary learn by just doing the job role.”
How would you say apprentices help employers?
“I believe that apprentices help employers because they bring new ideas into the company and they can guide their apprentice into a great future employer with the skills and knowledge they will learn.”
Can you share with us your thoughts on becoming a Mercuri Ambassador?
“I would really enjoy becoming a future Mercuri Ambassador, I think it would be a great to see others grow, in ways in which I have grown in confidence myself, and guide them through the apprenticeship developing their skills, knowledge and sharing different experiences.”
Anything else you would like to add?
“Over the past six months I have become a lot more confident, not only within my apprenticeship but also within my job role. I want to thank my mentor Tom for putting me forward and the support he has given to me and also to Portakabin and my colleagues Rahela and Charlotte for this opportunity and their support. I look forward to see where my sales path will lead me in the future.”
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