Each year, people of all ages join us as apprentices. Some come straight from school some are looking for a change of direction from their current career. Telent invests in their learning and development and equips them with the skills, knowledge and support to help them become the best they can be. Celebrating the success of those individuals is important and this year we still held a ceremony to mark their achievements even if, for obvious reasons, we could not get together physically.
At the virtual ceremony held in December, Operations and Maintenance Telecommunications Apprentice, Michael Grey has been named the second annual Mark Plato Apprentice of the Year. The annual award was created last year and recognises that Mark Plato, our former CEO, started his career as an apprentice and remained committed to supporting and developing apprentices throughout his working life. This award showcases the outstanding achievements of our apprentices and inspires others to follow in their footsteps.
Michael started with Telent in September 2019 and has been heavily involved in promoting our apprenticeship programme to young people across the country, volunteering to make a 250-mile round trip to share his experiences on video. Owing to becoming seriously ill in March, Michael was forced to pause his studies for five months but since continuing his studies he has pushed himself hard, taken every opportunity to learn from his colleagues and is now helping his peers with their studies and to pass their exams.