One of Rittal-CSM’s final year apprentices has won a top award at the annual Apprentice of the Year awards 2020, organised by Plymouth Manufacturers Group and Building Plymouth.
The awards celebrate talented up-and-coming apprentices working in the fields of construction and manufacturing, who have excelled, shown commitment to their working life and study, and who have performed exceptionally well during their apprenticeships, at both college and in their employment.
We were delighted to hear that Lewis Swatton has been recognised this year , as Plymouth’s Final Year Manufacturing Apprentice of 2020. Lewis has proven himself to be an exceptional, hardworking employee who managed to complete his apprenticeship six months earlier than the expected completion date.
Lewis Swatton, Rittal-CSM, Plymouth’s Final Year Manufacturing Apprentice of 2020
Lewis was seconded into a new position within the business which entailed working on the night shift, but this did not stop him excelling in his apprenticeship. He has always jumped at the opportunity for additional training and has gone the extra mile to learn about the business. As well as balancing his work and apprenticeship, Lewis also plays rugby for Plymouth Albion which involves training during work time. Lewis proved that he was able to commit to this as well as stay on track with his apprenticeship, without losing focus during his studies.
The Rittal-CSM team are all delighted to see that Lewis has been recognised for his hard work and commitment.
Lewis says: “I’m very proud to have won this award, to have been rewarded for the hard work I have put into my apprenticeship and the start of my working career. I could not have done it without the help of so many people within the business.
“I’d like to personally thank Emma Pope for all of her hard work behind the scenes, organising training, sorting all of my college admin, all the encouragement, and generally getting me through the last four years; Martin Foster, who spent months training me on his machine and helping me through job reports, which played a massive part in me completing my coursework; and the Group Leaders, Gary Smith and Gordon McLuskie, who have encouraged and mentored me, and helped me more times than I can count over the last few years.”
Close to 12 per cent of people who work in Plymouth are employed in the manufacturing sector. That’s one in every eight people, which is more than any other large city in the whole of southern England. Manufacturing is vital to Plymouth – it accounts for nearly 16 per cent of our local economy. Apprenticeships are a great way to encourage people into so-called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers, particularly when the UK has a growing shortfall of engineers.
Rittal-CSM’s award-winning apprenticeship programme has already been recognised as outstanding training scheme, providing progressive career options to anyone pursuing STEM-related apprenticeships. The programme won the top award at both the Plymouth Herald and the Western Morning News Business Awards. Find out more about Rittal-CSM apprenticeships.
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