Press Release

A special Gatwick ceremony to recognise the achievements of engineering apprentices at Gatwick as well as celebrating the graduation of new apprentices, took place on Thursday 1 March at BAA’s Group Management Training Centre, Pease Pottage.

The event, which celebrated the graduation of nine engineering apprentices who have all completed the Advanced Apprentice Programme in engineering maintenance, was opened by BAA Gatwick’s Learning and Performance Development Manager, Elissa Pette.

The event also recognised 11 current apprentices who are in various stages of the scheme having achieved success in a number of areas, such as: team player of the year, best kept log book and best attendance. All awards were voted for by existing apprentices. 2007 also marks the 30th anniversary that the engineering apprentice scheme has been running at Gatwick Airport. During that time 200 apprentices have successfully completed the scheme with around 60% of graduates still working in BAA airports. The scheme is run in collaboration with Central Sussex Colllege and apprentices are awarded with either NVQ level 3 in Maintenance and Ordinary National Certificate, (ONC) in engineering.

The apprentices, who were recruited from local schools and are aged 16 years and above, will spend four years completing the scheme. Year one is spent at college with year two to four spent on site, training in areas such as airfield maintenance and electronics, with one day a week spent in college. Each apprentice is also partnered to a BAA senior manager who will act as their mentor throughout the scheme. All nine graduates have successfully secured jobs within engineering at BAA since graduating.

Over 60 people attended the event including the apprentices, graduates, family members and friends. Each graduating apprentice was awarded with a certificate and bottle of champagne by BAA Gatwick’s Operational Solutions Director Chris Garton and BAA Gatwick’s Business Leader Logistics, Michael Evenson. Congratulating the graduates Chris said: “ I’m very impressed with the calibre of the apprentices and their achievements whilst on the programme. They are vital in keeping our business running successfully. My thanks go to the wider management team around them who run the scheme so well.”

The current apprentices were given special achievement awards by BAA Gatwick’s Customer Service Director David Stretch, who congratulated the team on their achievements so far. A special ‘Apprentice of the Year’ award was also awarded to Ryan
Tucknott from Burgess Hill, who was voted for by his colleagues.

Current apprentice Daniel Dobson from Copthorne also achieved further recognition from Central Sussex College, receiving a ‘Cause for Compliment’ acknowledgement, the first time any Gatwick Airport apprentice has received such a recognition.
BAA senior managers were also acknowledged for their commitment to the scheme. BAA Gatwick’s new Apprentice Manager, Graham Palmer was given a special award by outgoing Apprentice Manager Carol Gathern. Said Graham: “I’m delighted to be taking over from Carol who has done a fantastic job looking after the apprentices over the past nine years. It’s come full circle for me as I was one of the first apprentices to join the scheme in 1977 and I’ve seen many changes both to the operational needs of the airport and how the scheme has responded and changed in return. It’s fantastic to recognise the success of the programme through celebrations such as this.”

Organiser of the event, BAA Gatwick’s Training Administrator, Doreen Cheriton said: “ The event went really well. It was lovely to see the graduates from the last four years be congratulated on their success in completing the programme. This was the first time we have organised a Gatwick only graduation event as in the past we have joined up with Heathrow. It was great to get so much positive feedback from all the guests and we hope to run another graduation event next year.”

Notes to Editors:

Graduating apprentices:
1. Richard Crofts, Crawley
2. Dan Pearce, Crawley
3. Kirk Dewell, Crawley
4. Paul Radford , Crawley
5. Rob Cox, Burgess Hill
6. Adrian Carder, Shoreham
7. Chris Stevens, Hooley
8. Alan Skinner, Eastbourne
9. Ryan Tucknott from Burgess Hill

Achievement Awards to current apprentices:
1. James Sutton, Burgess Hill, best practical apprentice
2. David Farrall, Crawley, best attendance
3. Robert Gardner, Crawley, most improved apprentice
4. Luke Martin, Croydon, inspirational leadership skills
5. Daniel Dobson, Copthorne, best college project
6. Adam Brackpool, Horsham, team player of the year
7. Richard Fuller, Crawley, best practical apprentice
8. Andrew Compton, Hove, best kept logbook

Recruitment for the 2007 Engineering Apprentice Scheme will take place over the next couple of weeks. Please go to gatwickairport.com for more information to view the advertorial and to apply on line.