Bentley apprentice Daniel Butler (18) was named “Higher Apprentice of the Year in the North West” at a special ceremony held by the National Apprenticeship Service on Tuesday 17th May. The event, part of the most prestigious national award scheme for UK apprentices, was hosted by members of the North West Apprenticeship Ambassador Network.
Daniel, the fourth generation in his family to work at Bentley, is in his third year of his higher apprenticeship and works as a junior engineer at the high luxury automaker’s factory in Crewe. Working with a team of 30 experts in the body and trim development team, his current focus is Bentley’s latest model, the new Continental GT. In tandem Daniel is in his second year of a foundation degree in engineering at South Cheshire College, ensuring that he gains the requisite academic knowledge to support his practical skills and experiences.
Daniel explains, “I am thrilled to have won this award. My apprenticeship has given me so many opportunities to progress personally and professionally. It is certainly a career route that I would recommend to any school leaver who wants to continue their education gaining practical skills via real-life experience whilst earning money not debt.”
Sue Price, Director for the NAS in the North West said “This year’s awards were a terrific showcase of the outstanding wealth of apprenticeship talent that we have across the North West. Given the volume and high calibre of entries we received, I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Daniel for this superb achievement.”
Bentley employs 53 young apprentices across manufacturing, engineering and commercial disciplines and is currently conducting the selection process for its September intake following a recent recruitment campaign. Bentley received almost 1,000 applications for the 20 available apprentice places, doubling the applications from the previous year.
Julia Gill, Bentley’s Attraction and Development Manager comments, “Apprenticeships are key to Bentley’s future success. We will continue to invest in and evolve the schemes we offer to young people as the benefits are clear: Developing highly skilled, well educated and enthusiastic employees that are key to out future.”
To demonstrate the skills prevalent at Bentley, the Company’s prototype and tooling specialists made the medals and trophies for all of the award winners, including Marcus Gorvin, a Bentley craft apprentice who was highly commended in the Advanced Apprenticeship section. Later this year Bentley will produce 3,000 winners and volunteers medals for the World Skills London 2011 event which takes place from 5th to 8th October at ExCeL. Bentley is one of the main sponsors of this international competition which aims to promote vocational learning and training.
Daniel will now proceed onto the national stage of the awards competition and will be invited to an Oscar style awards ceremony to be held on 29th June in central London. Before that, he will undertake a four week placement at Audi’s headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany as part of his apprenticeship programme.
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