Telford teenager Jack Newton-Davies is playing a key e-commerce role at an international distribution centre after taking him on as an apprentice at a local engineering company.
Apprentice Jack, 19, from Trench, is working at the national and international distribution centre of Engineers Mate, based at Horton Court in Telford. The company also has a base at Kingswinford in the West Midlands.
The former Ercall Wood School student completed a year at Telford College’s King Street campus on a creative media level two course, alongside GCSE maths and English.
He joined the company os a level two warehousing and logistics apprentice with Engineers Mate, and has now become an e-commerce co-ordinator.
Jack said: “It was a good course which taught me some fundamentals about media, which I use in my current role.
“I wanted to be an apprentice because I wanted to start earning a salary. I had completed my college course and I was ready to take my stepping stone into my career.
Engineers Mate is an online supplier of engineering parts and spares, and distributor of power transmission products which includes electric motors, gear boxes, bearings and a range of hydronic and pneumatics.
It has been trading online for more than six years, with customers across Europe, America, and as far afield as the Royal Australian Navy.
Jack added: “I enjoyed my apprenticeship; it taught me everything I needed to know about warehouse and logistics.
“Telford College were really supportive. All my learning was conducted through assessor visits so it was easy for my employer because I didn’t have to leave the site.”
He said the apprenticeship suited him because it gave him the opportunity to take responsibility himself to complete coursework and provide his assessor with everything needed.
Chris Bowyer, Engineers Mate director, said apprenticeships had become an integral part of the business over the past four years.
“The attraction of apprentices to us is we take students from schools and colleges train them into our way of thinking and our approach to all aspects of the business including suppliers and customers.
“When finished, they are ready to move on to more responsible jobs within the organisation.
“We employ an apprentice with the intention that we employ them after the apprenticeship scheme – we invest too much time and training into our apprentices, and it wouldn’t be morally right to let them go afterwards.”
He added: “I’m an ambassador for apprenticeships. It’s easier to teach an appreciate about work ethics, time keeping, job completion, and taking responsibility for their tasks.
“They train from day one, and learn about the way we do things. We’re all on the same page.”
