Blackburn College apprentices complete degree with Senator

By Blackburn College

14 Jul 2022

senator-group.png

Eight Blackburn College apprentices have completed their Chartered Manager Degree in partnership with Accrington-based product design company Senator. 

Lydia Pilling, Kai Booth, Patrick Fleming, Alexander Crowe, Kate O’Connor, Jamie McCann, Rhiannon Copple, Charlie Spencer, are the first students to complete the new programme which began at Blackburn College in September 2018. 

The eight students are in the process of completing the apprenticeship part of their degree and have entered the gateway stage where staff from Senator and Blackburn College will review each student’s knowledge, skills and behaviour before the students then complete an End Point Assessment. 

The End Point Assessment is the final stage of an apprenticeship and will assess the above criteria via a series of assessments. 

Students undertook different roles whilst studying for their degree apprenticeship and spent 80% of their time being educated in the operational environment with 20% spent learning theoretical skills. 

Senator approached Blackburn College with their requirements for recruiting new members of staff and together, the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship was chosen as the ideal solution. 

Jamie McCann, 25, from Preston worked as a production process manager whilst completing the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship and will complete his chartership with the rest of the cohort later this year once they have completed the apprenticeship part of their degree. 

Jamie said: “I didn’t know what I wanted to do after finishing college. I didn’t really fancy the idea of going to university and I thought a business management apprenticeship would be perfect to help start me on a career path. 

“The apprenticeship gave me confidence in aspects of my day-to-day role where I had very little experience, building up knowledge in these areas allowed me to apply theory, understand, and plan for the possible outcomes, even before carrying out new tasks. 

“The best thing is when you can turn around, at various intervals and see just how far you have progressed professionally, personally and academically. When reflecting on personal development, it can be eye-opening to realise how much skill, knowledge and experience you build over the apprenticeship.” 

Senator operations director Tony Berry added: “The value to Senator of the undergraduate business apprenticeship with degree qualification, has allowed us to position talent into key areas of the Operation. 

“The project has been a huge success and all 10 candidates have their degree qualification with just their apprenticeship to be finalised. 

“We have skills in place across the group that I believe would have been difficult to recruit without this programme and probably didn’t exist. It is our task now to ensure that pathways are created so that each and every one of them can have an opportunity to reach their potential.” 

Blackburn College’s head of operations (apprenticeships) Nicola Cunningham said: “I would like to congratulate the first cohort of students who have completed the Chartered Manager Degree. 

“They have shown dedication and commitment over the last four years, working to complete this through Covid-19 so I’m extremely delighted to see them graduate from the degree and look forward to them achieving their apprenticeship later this year.” 

Latest news

1

Bellway to build 183 high quality new homes Royal Bowland Park street scene NEW.jpg.jpg

Bellway to build 183 high quality new homes

29 Oct 2025

2

University of Lancashire recognised for entrepreneurship and supporting business growth - Representatives from the University's Business School, local SMEs and the IOEE

University of Lancashire recognised for entrepreneurship and supporting business growth

29 Oct 2025

3

£8bn Typhoon order is great news for Lancashire BAE Typhoon ECRS Mk2 Radar

£8bn Typhoon order is great news for Lancashire

28 Oct 2025

4

Award-winning Lancashire wedding venue and hotel is sold The Mill at Conder Green

Award-winning Lancashire wedding venue and hotel is sold

28 Oct 2025

5

PM+M announces another 19 promotions across the firm PM+M promotions

PM+M announces another 19 promotions across the firm

27 Oct 2025

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Leverage Lancashire Business View platforms

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Build your network
Improve your SEO
Gain coverage in the magazine
Sign-up
Events
November / December 2025 Magazine Launch Event
Holiday Inn Hotel
Networking
28 Oct 2025 - 18 Nov 2025

November / December 2025 Magazine Launch Event

Holiday Inn, Blackpool

16:46 - 16:45

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course

Preston Campus, Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 17:00

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course

Preston Campus, Preston, PR1 2HE

08:00 - 17:00

Help to grow management course
Help to grow - barriers to growth.png.png
LBV Hub Seminars
26 Sep 2025 - 16 Dec 2025

Help to grow management course

Preston Campus , Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 15:00

Women scaling up Blackpool Fylde and Wyre
LBV Hub Seminars
22 Oct 2025 - 09 Jan 2026

Women scaling up Blackpool Fylde and Wyre

The Small Business Academy, Blackpool, FY4 5JX

09:30 - 15:30

RISE - Lancashire's unique leadership programme for women
thumbnail_Emma Weston Illustration WENDY BOWERS RISE Illustrstion.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
22 Oct 2025 - 18 Mar 2026

RISE - Lancashire's unique leadership programme for women

East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, Clayton le Moors, BB5 5JR

09:30 - 15:30

Chamber Breakfast Networking – November
Lancs-cham-logo.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Networking
06 Nov 2025 - 06 Nov 2025

Chamber Breakfast Networking – November

Porsche Centre South Lakes, Carnforth, LA6 1FW

08:30 - 10:30

Lancashire Police business update with The Police and Crime Commissioner
Lancs-cham-logo.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Roundtables
10 Nov 2025 - 10 Nov 2025

Lancashire Police business update with The Police and Crime Commissioner

Lancaster Castle, Lancaster, LA1 1YN

14:00 - 16:00

AI, Creativity, and what it means to be human
2.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Networking
11 Nov 2025 - 11 Nov 2025

AI, Creativity, and what it means to be human

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

18:00 - 20:00

Beyond the Brand: Building trust through values and integrity
1.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
11 Nov 2025 - 11 Nov 2025

Beyond the Brand: Building trust through values and integrity

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

18:00 - 20:00

The Business Network Central and East Lancashire
LBV Hub Networking
13 Nov 2025 - 13 Nov 2025

The Business Network Central and East Lancashire

Stanley House, Blackburn, BB2 7NP

11:30 - 14:15

The AI Lab: E-commerce
Ai Lab ecommerce (1).png.png
LBV Hub Seminars
14 Nov 2025 - 14 Nov 2025

The AI Lab: E-commerce

Door4 Office, Burnley Wharf, Burnley, BB11 1JG

09:00 - 11:30

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more LBV124 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin