National Apprentice Week

MSL’s first apprentice, Charlie, makes great impact on the business

This week brings together businesses and apprentices across the country to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make to individuals, businesses and the wider economy.

The theme for National Apprenticeship Week 2022 is ‘build the future’; reflecting on how apprenticeships can help individuals to develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career, and businesses to develop a talented workforce that is equipped with future-ready skills.

Celebrating National Apprentice Week at MSL

To celebrate National Apprentice Week, we wanted to share the story of our first ever Derby College apprentice and how we could not be happier with the progress he has made.

Sixteen-year-old Charlie Clare joined the MSL team in September on a three-year level 3 apprenticeship in Advanced Manufacturing in Engineering (mechatronics maintenance technician), and has fitted in perfectly.

We recruited Charlie after contacting DCG regarding an entirely separate matter, not because we were looking for an apprentice at that time.

Rob Greenbank, Account Manager at MSL said: “We were talking to our contact at DCG about a piece of machinery that the college was looking to sell. Through those conversations, we got to learn about one of DCG’s engineering students, Charlie, who was looking for an apprenticeship.

“We were looking for an apprentice so we interviewed Charlie and liked what we saw. We found him to be bright, confident and self-disciplined. What really impressed us though was his dedication to BMXing. Charlie races in BMX competitions all around the country most weekends and could be going to the Olympics one day.

“We were also pleased to discover that when he wasn’t at college or BMXing, Charlie was busy helping out on a farm during the summer holiday. In the modern world, many young people spend all of their spare time gaming or on their phones full time. We wanted to employ someone that showed a desire to be productive with their time, earn money and learn”.

Since joining us, Charlie has had a great impact on the business.

Rob added: “He assists the sales support team and is now getting involved in other areas of what we do, such as developing calibration testing and fault finding.”
As former apprentices themselves, both Rob and MSL’s managing director Andy Tagg, are keen advocates of apprenticeships.

Rob said: “We both came to our careers via that route and would like to provide similar opportunities to today’s young people. We’re a small business with 16 people but following our success with Charlie we’d definitely look to take on more apprentices in the future.”