accessplanit wins highly coveted Apprentice of the Year Award

Software house accessplanit’s helpdesk apprentice Jamie-Lee Butterworth has won the ‘Most Dedicated Apprentice Award’ at Lancaster and Morecambe College’s 2015 Apprentice Celebration Awards.

Delighted with this win, you can imagine the excitement when he went on to beat over 600 applicants to take the overall winner and highly coveted ‘Apprentice of the Year Award’.

Jamie was the company’s first apprentice, and prior to the vacancy there was a great deal of internal discussion regarding whether the role was suitable for an apprentice position. In addition to being the businesses first point of contact, the helpdesk team are also front line technical support for customers. There is an expectation that helpdesk advisors have an in-depth and expert knowledge of the software solution making the role both demanding and critical to customer issue resolution.

Indeed, one of reasons Jamie is so suited to his role is his determination to always get to the bottom of a problem. He never passes over responsibility. He will manage a customer issue and liaise with colleagues until it is resolved. Jamie is a fast, bright, personable asset to the company and is very much valued by customers. Comments like these are not unusual:-

“Last week I was talking to Stuart and amazed to discover that Jamie was an apprentice. From the conversations I have had with him, some of which were ‘mentally taxing’ (as I’m sure the rest of the team will agree – mine can be!) I thought he was an established support desk operator who was just familiarising himself with the course manager system. Well done Jamie, you have ‘masked’ your secret well - keep up the good work," said Jon Copley, Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Jamie has achieved so much is a very short space of time and is a role model to anyone out there with doubts about joining a company as an apprentice or to any businesses considering the apprenticeship programme. Jamie grabbed his opportunity, proved he was a great asset and within 6 months has secured a permanent position.

Dave Evans, MD explained: “Our decision to escalate Jamie’s promotion to a permanent role was inevitable. Not only was he absorbing a new and challenging role and studying whilst doing this, he was also supporting a young family on an apprentice salary.

"At any time Jamie could have taken the easy option to earn a living wage, but he was committed to the opportunity of developing a career and to working with us. As an employer I believe that attitude is fundamental to success and we didn’t hesitate to promote Jamie. He is a great ambassador for the apprenticeship programme.” Following Jamie’s promotion accessplanit worked with Lancaster and Morecambe College to recruit another apprentice, who has now been in the role almost 6 months.