BAE Systems' Pav Bhogal wins NWAA Best Apprentice of the Year
The BAE Systems' apprentices were named the best in the North West at the leading NWAA industry awards, collecting their trophies at a ceremony held in the Imperial War Museum North in Salford on 28 November, which heard speeches from BAE Systems' chief test pilot, Mark Bowman, and former national apprentice champion, Jenny Westworth.
Pav (right), 21, who lives in Preston, Lancashire and is in the third and final year of his apprenticeship, said his experience had surpassed his expectations.
He said: “When I started as an apprentice, I could never have expected to be representing BAE Systems and the country at skills competitions or winning awards like this.
“The opportunities I have had to work on world-class aircraft like Typhoon and our unmanned air vehicles projects throughout my apprenticeship has been an amazing experience.”
Joanne, 22, of St Annes, Lancashire collected her prize following her success in leading a team of three BAE Systems project managers in a competition organised as part of the awards.
It saw them take on teams of engineers in a variety of challenges which included having to build a tower out of spaghetti which was capable of balancing a marshmallow on top.
She said: “The judges were impressed with the way I kept the team motivated even though we were doing badly at the exercise, they commented on the leadership I showed.
“They said I had ‘stepped in whenever needed’ to support the team and drive them forward which was great to hear.”
Project Control Foundation Scheme
Joanne (right) is now in her second year of a five-year Project Control Foundation Scheme (PCFS) which BAE Systems run with Blackpool and Fylde College to train up project managers.
It will see her complete a higher apprenticeship and a foundation degree in her first two years before going on to study a bachelors’ degree in the final three years.
She said: “The opportunities my training with BAE Systems has given me has been fantastic, every day I am involved in something exciting.”
During his speech, Mark Bowman, who leads BAE Systems' team of test pilots at the company's Warton site in Lancashire, talked about achieving his schoolboy dream to fly world-class aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and the importance of apprenticeships.
Jenny Westworth, who won the NWAA Best Apprentice of the Year prize in 2011, also spoke about her apprenticeship experience which has seen her take a role as an education ambassador and an ambassador for key STEM (science, technology, engineering and manufacturing) in the region.
NWAA chief executive officer Martin Wright said the young engineers and technicians coming into the region’s aerospace companies were “the future of our industry". He said: “Advanced high technology manufacturing is now recognised as a vital part of our economy, offering young people a career for life.
“The NWAA works to promote this image and works alongside industry with schools, parents and teachers to ensure the region has a consistent and growing pool of talent, as demonstrated by these awards.”
In 2013, BAE Systems took more than 100 apprentices on to its training scheme including 83 which will go direct into the company's own workforce and a further 22 taken on through an Employee Ownership Pilot.
That initiative will see apprentices trained up at BAE Systems' centre in Preston, Lancashire, for the first year before going on to complete the rest of their training in BAE Systems' supply chain companies.
BAE Systems is currently recruiting for its latest intake of apprentices, who will start in September 2014.
