There were ten finalists at the event, who were all apprentices on-programme with Mitie and placed with various companies Mitie works with. The apprenticeships were delivered by Jigsaw Training, using NOCN apprenticeship frameworks, and included Customer Service, Business Administration, Security and Team Leading.

There were ten finalists at the event, who were all apprentices on-programme with Mitie and placed with various companies which Mitie works with. Their apprenticeships were delivered by Jigsaw Training and included Customer Service, Business Administration, Security and Team Leading, using NOCN apprenticeship frameworks.

The finalists were:

• Danny Pitt (Meadows Shopping Centre)
• Gary Greaves (Rolls Royce)
• Andrew Humphrey (Sky)
• Mark Hinson (Peterborough Magistrates Court)
• Karly Jarvis (Essex County Council)
• Geoff Rees (Rolls Royce)
• Zaky Hnana (Woolwich County Court)
• Sarah Jayne Swallow (Brighton County Court)
• Sohail Muhammed (TNT Bradford)
• Gareth Lind (Portsmouth County Court)

The event took place in Birmingham at the Motor Museum and the audience included employers, partners and apprentices who had been selected and nominated by their placement managers. All nominated apprentices were treated to an off-road driving experience and a guided tour of the museum, so everyone got something positive out of the day.

There were speeches from Jason Towse, MD of TSM - Mitie’s Total Security Management business, James Blackhurst, MD of Jigsaw Training and Trustee of NOCN, and Lee Walton, Operations Manager from JLR. Jason presented the certificates and prizes to the finalists with the overall prize of TSM Apprentice of the Year awarded to Gary Greaves of Rolls Royce, Hucknall. To win, Gary developed a project on emergency preparedness using ‘emergency data system’ (EDS), used by command/control emergency services teams, focused on pathways and building layouts before sending teams in during an emergency. Gary was presented with a £200 Amazon voucher donated by NOCN and an Ipad sponsored by Jigsaw.

Jason Towse, Mitie TSM MD, commented:

“It’s fantastic that we can recognise and celebrate the efforts of our officers. Apprenticeships are key to the development of our great people and our service to the customer. The Apprentice of the Year award ceremony was a first and a significant landmark on our journey to becoming the employer of choice. It was an honour to present the ten awards and I am excited to see how our continued investment will inspire change.”

Stuart Bleazard, Mitie TSM Operations Director, said:

“It was great to see our top ten finalists receive the recognition of their achievements at the British Motor Museum. The scheme has provided our employees with significant benefits in terms of their personal development which in turn has resulted in an enhanced service delivery to our customers. The exhilarating part of the day was when the apprentices got to experience the capabilities of some of the top off-road vehicles the motor industry has to offer. Everyone had a great day and I am looking forward to seeing the scheme grow further over the coming twelve months.”

Jigsaw CEO James Blackhurst said:

"These apprentices have all worked hard to succeed. I understand the pressure these young people are under to achieve in their roles and they have all exceeded expectations. They are a talented lot and I am happy that we've been able to help them get their careers off to a flying start."

Jackie Bailey, Product Development Manager, NOCN, said:

"The event was enjoyable and the apprentices were all very talented and deserving of this recognition. NOCN lives and breathes apprenticeships and is passionate about helping young people improve their lives through learning, so I really enjoyed hearing about their achievements and valued the opportunity to give the winner his prize, which was very well deserved."

Further information:

• NOCN is a national awarding and assessment organisation. It has 35 apprenticeship frameworks available for delivery, 49 reformed apprenticeship standards and three new apprentice assessment plans in place for the Finance, Construction and Public Services industries, as well as many more in the pipeline. http://www.nocn.org.uk/nocn-apprenticeships.
• Mitie Total Security Management (TSM) works with Jigsaw Training to offer free in-house work based training and career development to security officers through the TSM apprentice scheme. Over the last eight years the apprentice scheme has grown, with more than 300 Mitie TSM people signing up each year. The apprenticeship scheme offers an accredited qualification in the workplace without having to attend further education. Last year Mitie TSM decided to host an awards event to acknowledge and celebrate our apprentices’ exceptional contribution to their workplace, and so the Mitie Apprentice of the Year Awards was conceived. Mitie - www.mitie.com
• Jigsaw CEO James Blackhurst is also a Trustee of NOCN and Jigsaw is an NOCN approved Centre delivering NOCN qualifications to a range of customers. Jigsaw - www.jigsaw-training.co.uk