Apprentices show Rotherham’s future is in safe hands

Philip took the Rotherham Apprentice of the Year Awards  (intermediate) 2016 title alongside Alex Bellis, who won the higher level prize, at a special ceremony at Rotherham Town Hall today.

Phil’s boss at ZND UK Limited   based on Barbot Hall Industrial Estate   Paul Stevenson said: “Philip Holley has restored my faith and belief that an apprenticeship programme is a worthwhile exercise for any business.”

Alex’s nominator at Expert Web in Bramley, Chris Harpin, said: “I don’t think Expert Web would have proceeded had it not been for the role Alex played during the early days.”

Runners-up were Jack Hopkinson of Jump Primary School and Molly Charlesworth of Magna.

The Advertiser decided to stage the awards in partnership with the Business Growth Board after initial discussions with Ian Goodall of Aardvark Swift.

The aim of the awards was to showcase not only the importance of apprentices and apprenticeships to Rotherham business and economy, but to highlight just how vital the people who entered this competition are to the town’s future and to bust the myth that apprenticeships are for people not intelligent enough to go to university.

Judges were Advertiser editor Andrew Mosley, Ian Goodall, Steve Roberts from Fripp Design, Anne Peat from Sheffield University and Shaz Ghalib from the National Apprenticeship Service.