Waste and resources firm Veolia has unveiled its 2016 Apprentices of the Year at a special ceremony in the Houses of Parliament.
The annual event, now in its second year, sees some of the company’s 350 apprentices recognised for their work and progress.
The event took place last week (23 November) and was attended by Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia vice-president for UK & Ireland, Energy & Utility Skills chair Jan Ward, and Labour MP and Shadow Environment Secretary Rachael Maskell.
Jordan Gudgin, 25, has been named Veolia’s Apprentice of the Year
Northampton-based Jordan Gudgin, 25, was named overall Apprentice of the Year for her work as a business administration apprentice in the company’s commercial waste division.
‘Honoured’
While on holiday and unable to appear at the awards in person, she delivered a video address thanking Veolia for the accolade. She said: “I’m really honoured to be Veolia’s Apprentice of the Year 2016 and feel that my apprenticeship experience has enabled me to grow both professionally and personally.
“My biggest achievement has to be helping turn one of Veolia’s commercial depots into a thriving transport hub for the region. From the opportunity to move between different departments and various Veolia sites up and down the country.”
Ms Gudgin added she has recently begun her Level 4 qualification through the Veolia Campus and “can’t wait to see what my future within Veolia holds”.
Direction
Presenting, Ms Brachlianoff said there was a ‘skills gap’ for engineers in the UK which the government should help Veolia close.
She said: “We estimated there are over a million new engineers needed by 2020 in this country and we are nowhere near training in the universities and the system that million. Basically we’re training half of it in this country so this is a way to bridge the gap.”
Speaking to letsrecycle.com after the ceremony, she also reiterated her call for ‘a clear direction of travel’ to boost recycling, adding: “What we are hoping is to have a clear direction of travel, as you know the big success story in my view is the landfill tax. It said to the whole industry which direction they needed to go, which has helped the investors to basically build infrastructure and an alternative to landfill. That would be the model in terms of what can be done to drive change.”
Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia UK & Ireland vice-president, with this year’s award winners
‘Special sector’
Commenting on the awards, Ms Ward said all of the apprentices were joining “a very, very special sector”.
She said: “It’s so great to see Veolia is employing over 350 apprentices and celebrating them. I’d like to congratulate Estelle and her team for the fabulous work that they do at the campus with the training and development of youngsters. Played a very strong part in highly-skilled and highly sustainable workforce.”
Ms Maskell added: “Veolia as a company has really explored so many new channels which in itself is exciting.
“I think about where the next generation is going to take this environment agenda, not just here in the UK. We could be world leaders taking this across the globe, and don’t we just need that?”
Veolia Apprentice of the Year Award winners:
Jordan Gudgin, 25
Jessica Ellis, 25
Alex Beech, 21
Robert Salmon, 20
Gillian Daye, 39
Keiron Tague, 24
Kelly Purkiss, 22
Mabel Addae, 26
Joe Walker, 23
Pam Duckworth, 41
Suzanne Warne, 48
William McCrone, 25
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Source: letsrecycle.com General
