Longridge man's second apprenticeship provides ideal training

The Longridge man is a passionate advocate of the value of earning while you learn.

The former pupil of Chipping St Mary’s and St Cecilia’s school in Longridge, near Preston, embarked on his first apprenticeship at the age of 16 - in bricklaying.

But his thirst to learn more drove him to return to formal study. He said: “At the age of 19 I put myself through my HNC (Higher National Certificate) in construction at night school”.

After his studies at Preston College he became self employed for two years.

But at the age of 23 he had another turning point and signed up for a second apprenticeship, in quantity surveying with Balfour Beatty.

His career now means he splits his time before working for Balfour Beatty based at the Sellafield nuclear plant three days a week in Cumbria.Then he packs his bag and returns home for a day’s study at UCLan in Preston, before spending a day working from his company’s Warrington offices.

He said: “I’ve been at Sellafield ever since I started my degree apprenticeship. At first it was quite hard to adjust. I was away from all my friends and family but the company had made it easy to slot in and they just support you at every opportunity.”

When he qualifies Daniel sees his future in the nuclear industry which he notes is “ever growing”.

Such has been his success that he was recently selected to take part in an company wide apprenticeship challenge representing the north as one of a small team.

He said: “It started in June and there are four or five separate challenges. It’s an honour to be on the north apprentice team.”

The first saw him stepping outside his work environment to take part in a four day team building challenge with the Brathay Trust in Ambleside

He said: “We had to support each other. We are competing to be the apprentice team of the year.”

Taking pride in his selection Daniel is a passionate advocate of apprenticeships: “For me the key facts are you are basically learning and earning at the same time. So you are getting a good wage whilst also earning a qualification. You are working with experienced people day in day out so it is so much easier to pick up certain things and so much easier to understand what you have to do.”

He believes his company is leading the way "using degree apprenticeships to help young people gain experience and an education to give them the best possible career they can."

He compares being an apprentice with studying at college or university and then starting a new job in the working world and says the apprentice route was his perfect path: “It’s just a completely different experience. It’s perfect for me. It was the right thing because I was 100 per cent certain it was what I wanted to do. I knew if I started an apprenticeship I could just find my feet a bit easier.”

He says his ambition, once he signed up, was clear: “just to get in and learn everything I could."

He added: “Working with experienced people you can take the knowledge off them - for me it’s the best thing.”

In two years Daniel, who has been with Balfour Beatty three years, expects to be fully qualified.