Newcastle’s Dan Kane is Apprentice of the Year

4/6/18 : ‘Apprentice of the Year’ is a highlight on the TClarke calendar. It isn’t just the recognition of apprentices across the business, the award is also a well established route to career progress. This year’s five finalists, including winner Dan Kane, talk about the experience.

Steve Taylor

I’m a fourth year electrical apprentice in London, working in the Infrastructure Team. I started the practical side of my training at the Victoria Station Upgrade. After a spell on the Bakerloo line link at Paddington, I was brought into the office in a Quality Assurance role, since which, I’ve spent time working on fire alarm systems with TClarke Intelligent Buildings. This week I’ve been doing tendering work for Southbank Place.

Quality Assurance work may not appear the most exciting, but it is pivotal to so much of what we do and with each of these roles, I’ve steadily broadened my experience. Growing your range of knowledge is viewed as very important at this company. I know leaders like Mike Crowder started as apprentices just like me and so the inspiration to work your way up is evident.

Matthew Mayhew

I’m a mechanical apprentice in my third year, working at Southbank Place. Currently, I’ve been working on an oil line with a welder helping prepare all his work so that he can progress efficiently down the riser. My objective is very clear – I want to improve day by day, master all the welding skills and then move on to other things.

At TClarke you are encouraged to be open to new skills and hungry to acquire them. Fairly soon you see that hard work and persistence will not only help you achieve your goals – it also gets you recognised. I aim to give 100% and show a willingness to learn and improve day by day. Being selected as a finalist has been a great reward – particularly the opportunity to take part in the five year Strategic Leadership Programme.

Sam Sherwin

I’m a fourth year electrical apprentice and currently working on the vast Illumina project in Cambridge, testing services and circuits. I try and make sure my quality of work is good and I aim to work quickly, work over the weekends and generally pay attention to the things like neatness and precision that TClarke prizes. Showing these attributes consistently does seem to be key to demonstrating that you have embraced the ‘TClarke Way’.

In terms of something I’m proud of achieving, we did all the wiring for quite a large job for GlaxoSmithkline in Stevenage and when it came to testing, there were no faults. I think that was something in which we all took pride.

Scott Cochrane

I’m in the third year of my electrical apprenticeship and in addition I’ve taken extra HNC courses in Inspection and Testing to further my knowledge. Essentially I am working as hard as I can to pester everyone with whom I work to teach me what they know. I’m getting to understand the business and getting my face known too. This year I got invited into the office to build some estimating experience. That’s given me more confidence to push on.

This is definitely a company for life; they’ve looked after me and I’m trying to repay that as I go.

Daniel Kane

I’m in my final year as an electrical apprentice and most recently, I’ve been working on Parkview Student accommodation’s electrical installation. I think one of the things that has helped me stand out is the fact that I took the initiative myself in enrolling in a degree in electrical engineering. I’m just completing the foundation element now.

I know that in the Newcastle team you can progress if you put in the hard work and go ‘beyond’ the normal expectation. Certainly I’m very much focused on health and safety – it is a massive thing for us and we know it wins us work in our marketplace.

I was really surprised to win! What’s been particularly inspiring today is meeting previous winners like Jake Shorrock and seeing how much the company has got behind them and given them more and more career opportunity.