Apprentice hopes to inspire others to follow in his footsteps

Ben Howarth will visit high schools across Greater Manchester to speak about the benefits of apprenticeships, following his successful tenure at Bury firm Pennine Telecom.

The 22-year-old is part of Manchester City Council's Apprenticeship Ambassador Programme, and has been promoted to lead ambassador after impressing during his first talk to pupils at Harper Green School in Bolton, meaning he will lead presentations in schools.

Ben, who formerly attended Elton High School and Bury College, joined the telecommunications firm in 2012, and has since earned qualifications in customer service and business administration during his ongoing apprenticeship.

He said: "I would have no hesitation in recommending apprenticeships to school leavers because I know their real value from my own experience. It’s been a massive help to me.

"There is so much more choice now; they’re not just about training to become a plumber or electrician.

"You can also train right up to Level 6, equivalent to a foundation degree course, whilst gaining real work experience which employers really value."

Ben said the scheme is helping to improve all areas of his business skills.

He added: "I started in what’s called the service control department, learning about delivery of maintenance and support services.

"I then moved across to the sales support team where I’m working alongside the sales team and responsible for provisioning mobiles, billing, processing orders and liaising with customers.

"I’ve learned so much from being hands-on, receiving training on specific products such as mobile devices and even visiting Vodafone's HQ in Newbury."

The firm's managing director Andrew Roberts was also originally an apprentice, as was product director Geoff King.

Ben added: "Mr Roberts joined the company as an apprentice from Bolton College and is now the boss. That shows me just what can be achieved."

For more information: visit aprenticeshipambassadors.org