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National Apprenticeship Week 2023 is the 16^th annual celebration of apprenticeship, bringing together businesses and apprentices across the country to shine a light on the positive impact apprenticeships bring to individuals, businesses and the wider economy.

Since starting his engineering apprenticeship in 2021, Aaron Jeffrey has learned skills that have helped his career at Silvery Tweed go from strength to strength. “After the initial six-week mechanical course, followed by time working on-site and an electrical course, I now go to college one day a week and spend the rest of the week gaining hands-on experience,” Aaron says, “We cover everything from mechanical principles to CAD drawing and I am even studying A-Level maths, which is a subject I always enjoyed at school.”

A large part of an apprenticeship is gaining hands-on experience by working on-site and carrying out jobs alongside qualified members of the team, all while having regular visits from a supervisor to assess progress. Aaron said: “Over the last year, my knowledge and confidence have improved massively, to the point where I now go and deal with some jobs on my own. I love taking machinery to pieces, working out what has gone wrong and then fixing the issue. I am lucky at Silvery Tweed that we have a very experienced engineering team who all take the time to help me and teach me different elements of the job.”

Silvery Tweed operations director Peter Thompson said: “Right from the start, Aaron has had a fantastic attitude towards learning and developing his skills. It is great to see him gain confidence and tackle new challenges.

“Apprenticeships are a great way for businesses such as ours to fill knowledge gaps and upskill our workforce. They also allow us to offer members of the team, such as Aaron, a way to progress their careers. We hope that Aaron will enjoy a long and successful career here at Silvery Tweed.”

An apprenticeship gives the opportunity to learn things that will be skills for life and can lead to a rewarding career. Commenting on this, Aaron said: “I hope to be at Silvery Tweed for a very long time as it is a great place to work. What I am learning now are all things that will stick with me and allow me to follow my dream of being an engineer and providing for my family.”