As part of National Apprenticeship Week 2023, SoGlos has teamed up with Gloucestershire Engineering Training to celebrate the wealth of talent we have here in the county.
The Barnwood-based specialist helps train engineers for some of the county's very best engineering firms - from international giants to small dynamic businesses - and currently has almost 130 Level 3 apprentices, 35 to 40 Level 4 apprentices and approximately 50 to 60 higher education learners starting in September 2023, with SoGlos highlighting 15 of its stand-out apprentices.
Ed Baker
First year Renishaw Level 3 engineering technician, Ed Baker, came to Gloucestershire Engineering Training in July 2019 when he completed a work experience placement. He has since earned a place in the GET cabinet of excellence for building a depth gauge to a very high standard as part of his hand fitting assessment.
Baker is part of the Renishaw Greenpower Electric Car Racing Team, which competed in Barcelona last year, with the cars reaching speeds of 50 mph. The 19-year-old is also an experienced sailor; was part of the England Youth Squad for 2020 and 2021; and will be taking part in the BT Sport sailing competition in Valencia in February 2023.
Kat Payne
According to GET, Kat Payne is ‘always happy to help others, totally understands the team ethics and we can do things together approach and has shown real strengths in electrical and electronics’. Payne will, said GET, ‘be an asset to the sector and her employer’.
The 19-year-old year-two Level 3 engineering technician, who works for Cheltenham-based Kohler Mira, won ‘The Apprentice considered to have given the most contribution to the centre’ trophy and was runner up for Best Overall Fitter and Best Electronic Apprentice at the GET awards July 2022.
Eleanora Milkova
Eleanora Milkova works for the Brockworth-based global manufacturer of car parts, GTEM, and transferred to an apprenticeship in order to progress her career. Milkova won the Peer to Support Trophy and was third in the Best Overall CNC Trophy at the GET Awards July 2022.
GET describes the 22-year-old year-two Level 3 engineering technician as ‘a very conscientious learner who was always keen to understand how the training at GET aligned to her work role at GTEM’ and as ‘a very positive and mature apprentice who will be an asset to the company and sector’.
Connor Galling
Kohler Mira year-two Level 3 engineering technician, Connor Galling, is described by GET as ‘a very intelligent apprentice with an excellent work ethic’.
The 20-year-old is ‘ahead of where expected and his work is always presented to a very high standard and ahead of deadlines’. Galling won Best Dual Skilled Trophy and runner up for Best Electrical Apprentice at the GET awards July 2022.
Michael Crilley
A second-year Level 3 maintenance
and operations engineering technician, Michael Crilley is described as ‘a very
conscientious and adaptive learner who thrives in the engineering environment’,
has ‘a very can do approach’ and a hunger to develop his knowledge.
The 19-year-old employee of Stonehouse-based Customade won a silver medal at the WorldSkills National Finals and has been selected for the UK squad for WorldSkills 2024 in Lyon. He won Best Electronic Apprentice and Apprentice judged to the Best in all Aspects of Foundation Training; came second in the Information Communication Technology Mechanical (CAD); and third in the Best Dual Skilled Apprentice at the GET Awards evening in July 2022.
Aspen Harris
A year-one Level 3 engineering technician at Forest of Dean-based engineering giant SPP Pumps, Aspen Harris is described by GET as ‘a very proactive and inquisitive learner who has demonstrated strong machining skills’.
GET goes on to say that Harris, who is still only 16, is ‘a positive addition to his employer and the wider engineering and manufacturing sector’, and that he ‘definitely thinks like an engineer’ already. Outside of work Harris is a volunteer at the Dean Heritage Railway helping to maintain the the tracks.
Ruqayyah Girach
GET describes Ruqayyah Girach as having ‘an excellent attitude’ and being ‘keen to learn’. The year-one Level 3 engineering technician works for Wotton-under-Edge-headquartered Renishaw and recently earned a place in the GET cabinet of excellence for making a drill drift and achieving the designated tolerances and exceptional surface finish.
The 18-year-old undertook her maths assessment earlier than scheduled, with excellent results, and chose to complete additional work in the subject to ensure she did well. On top of that, she also volunteered to complete an additional project of making a buzz wire for GET to utilise at open events.
Sam Groves
Renishaw engineer Sam Groves recently
gained a place in the GET cabinet of excellence for making a screw jack (commonly used to lift heavy weights) to an
excellent standard as part of his assessment and he is consistently in the winning team of the week.
GET describes the Level 3 engineering technician as ‘always showing a willingness to learn new skills and is always very enthusiastic’. Outside of work, the 19-year-old kayaked the River Thames in 2022 for charity.
James Ashly
A winner of both the SME Apprentice of the Year at the Enginuity Awards in March 2022 and the Apprentice of the Year at the SoGlos Business Awards in October 2022, James Ashly is also shortlisted at other events including Apprentice of the Year at the Group Training Association England Awards in February 2023.
The 20-year-old Level 3 maintenance and operations engineering technician is in his fourth year and is described as ‘an integral part of our workshop maintenance team’ at GET and mentors his peers on a daily basis, as well as assisting the instructors and year-one learners on site.
Adam Redfern
20-year-old Adam Redfern has now passed his Level 3 engineering technician apprenticeship, with GET adding that he has amassed ‘a very impressive portfolio’ in the process ‘with the assessor advising it is one of the best they have seen’.
‘The projects that he has produced were very interesting and technically challenging. He is in the process of EPA (end point assessment) and again the quality of his work is top class,’ said GET. In November 2021, Redfern, who works at Stonehouse-based ABB, achieved a highly acclaimed silver award in Industrial Electronics WorldSkills UK competition.
Ed Barrow
Year-two Level 3 engineering technician, Ed Barrow, won Most Improved Apprentice, Best Maintenance Apprentice Awards and was runner up for Best Overall Fitter at the GET Awards in July 2022.
According to GET, Barrow, who works for Wotton-under-Edge-headquartered global engineering firm Renishaw, ‘has shown real maturity and a can do attitude that will definitely provide lots of career opportunities in the future’.
Luke Russell
GET describes Luke Russell as ‘a
very positive and mature apprentice who has been very supportive of the younger
learners at GET’ and someone who has ‘demonstrated a very strong hands on
practical approach to engineering with a good understanding for maintenance
processes and how they are implemented within industry’.
Russell, a year-two Level 3 maintenance and operations engineering technician for Cirencester-based Truffle Hunter, won the Best Overall Fitter trophy, was runner up in the Apprentice’s Apprentice of the Year and was third in the Best Electrical Apprentice Trophy at the GET Awards in July 2022.
Debora Stacey
Debora Stacey has been
working for Renishaw for five years and chose to transfer to an apprenticeship
in order to gain more skills and enhance her career progression.
GET describes the 34-year-old mum of two, a year-one Level 3 engineering technician for whom English is not her first language, as ‘an inspiration to her peers’. She is, said GET, someone who has ‘made considerable sacrifices to fulfil her dream’. Stacey is vice chairperson of the GET Learner Committee, too.
Callum Bayliss
GET describes year-one Level 3 engineering technician, Callum Bayliss, as an excellent learner who will be a contender in the Turner of the Year Award, adding ‘all tasks are always carried out to a very high standard’.
Outside of work, the 16-year-old Renishaw staff member volunteers at the Dean Heritage Railway in the Forest of Dean and was involved in the restoration of a steam engine that took six years to complete.
Marco Moreira
GET describes 24-year-old Marco
Moreira as ‘a very proactive and focused individual who likes to understand
the minutia and detail to complete a task’ and as someone who ‘will be an asset
to his employer in the future’.
The year-one Level 4 engineering manufacturing technician works for Staverton and Cheltenham-based Ontic, a major aerospace parts maker. GET says Moreira is ‘progressing well, following instructions, producing excellent work and always keen to help other learners’.
