2020 Apprentice of the Year Finalist : Chris Marshall

28/10/20: The TClarke Apprentice of the Year finalists are automatically invited into the company’s Future Leaders programme. TClarke’s apprenticeship programme is known as one of the very best in construction or any engineering sector. Chris Marshall is one of two runners up.

Mike Crowder, Group Managing Director, commented on Chris’s success as a finalist:

“Chris Marshall is a highly articulate and capable person. Coming to us as an adult apprentice he has shown the capability and potential for leadership we look for – as an ex Royal Marine, that may not be surprising.”

Chris had many options when he left the armed services:

“I was in the fortunate position of being able to pick a career that I wanted to pursue (knowing I would get funding for it). So I made a list of everything I wanted from a career and I recognised that engineering was for me. 

“When I started looking at companies which did apprenticeships, I soon got it down to three good options that stood out. What made me decide on TClarke was the reputation of the company and the reputation of the apprenticeship scheme.

“Compared to the rest, TClarke’s foundations seemed so much stronger and bigger. And the reality of four years as an apprentice has shown that to be the case. The organisation and efficiency is excellence. Whenever I have had issues, Vicki Knight has been so proactive in sorting things out for me.

“And the quality of the jobs you work on also stands out. During my apprenticeship I’ve worked on projects like the Dyson Research Facility and Bath Spa University.

“One of the main features of my TClarke apprenticeship has been the sheer amount of time people have spent onsite helping me and teaching me how to do things the TClarke way. Because of the structure and emphasis of the company, people do take the time. What I sense is that at many companies there is so much ongoing pressure to get the job done that there is just not time or appetite to do things this way.

“I’m happy to be on the Future Leaders programme but to be honest, from my point of view, even if I hadn’t been included on it through this competition, I would still have worked my way onto it. In five years time I see myself as a project manager in the business. I’m looking ahead.”