As part of the recent National Apprenticeship Week, the Trailblazer group (employers who are looking at developing new apprenticeship standards) were asked to suggest current and graduate apprentices to attend a celebration event at No. 10 Downing Street. Essar Oil UK were proud to be represented at the special occasion by Rebecca Benson (ex TTE and now a field operator on OMS) and Tom Riley (phase 3 TTE apprentice).
Rebecca and Tom explained how the day went: “On arrival at Downing Street we showed our invitations and passports to gain access through the black gates. We then handed in our belongings to be searched before entering through the front door of number 10 and up the stairs to an upper floor where we were greeted by crowds of people all representing a different company, apprenticeship scheme, employer, or government funding body.
“We had a couple of hours to make our way around the floor, speaking to as many people as we could. We shared some of our experiences, as well as our backgrounds in engineering and TTE/Essar apprenticeships. It was very interesting to hear about the varied schemes that are available around the country and how different they all are to each other.
“The purpose of the occasion was not only to raise awareness of the advantages of apprenticeships, but also praise the impressive and successful set-up that TTE and Essar have developed over the years. We managed to interact with people from companies such as Unilever, Heathrow Airport, and Rolls Royce, as well as Chancellor George Osborne. Our day at Downing Street was an experience we will never forget due to the people and organizations that we met and the amount of enthusiasm shown about apprenticeships and about TTE, Essar and Trailblazers.”
