Member Article

North East apprentices are VIPs at Parliament

Two young apprentices from the North East enjoyed a VIP trip to the House of Commons after being shortlisted in the prestigious Microsoft Apprentice of the Year awards.

Dean Shorter, 17, and Liam Bell, 19, have both started out on promising careers with leading IT services specialist TSG, combining classroom-based study with hands-on practical experience gained alongside more than 300 highly qualified colleagues.

The pair were treated to a personal guided tour of the House of Commons along with celebratory drinks in the members’ bar by MP for North Tyneside Mary Glindon, who congratulated them on their achievements.

Holders of five Microsoft Gold Competencies, TSG also received an honourable mention in the Employer of the Year category for commitment to the apprenticeship programme and in recognition of training that goes above and beyond the standard course content.

TSG Chief Executive David Stonehouse, a big supporter of the programme, said: “Being shortlisted for these awards is a significant achievement and the team at TSG are all extremely proud of Liam and Dean.

“Our customers expect us to deliver exceptional solutions backed by the highest levels of service across all areas of technology and that means we need to attract the best people to work at TSG and nurture their talents.

“Our investment in the apprenticeship programme pays real dividends and I’m confident that it sets up the young people who are involved for a bright future.”

After gaining very good GCSE grades Dean, from Walker, Newcastle, decided to put his qualifications to practical use.

He said: “I’ve always been interested in technology so it’s great to learn how it all really works. Part of my role is to help look after the technology systems at TSG and, like all businesses, my colleagues rely on everything to be working seamlessly to do their jobs.

“There’s a huge amount to learn and it’s difficult to keep up with all of the new developments which is why it’s great to be surrounded by so many people with so much expertise.”

Liam, of Cramlington, applied for his apprenticeship the day after successfully graduating from sixth form and has grown quickly into a highly regarded member of the TSG SystemCare team.

He said: “At times it feels a bit like we’re the fourth emergency service but the leading-edge monitoring systems we use allow us to predict problems before they actually happen and sort them out before anyone is affected.

“When people are sitting at their desks or tapping into information on their mobile devices I don’t think they really appreciate what’s happening in the background.”

Dan Johnston, Technical Support Manager at TSG, added: “Neither Liam and Dean had any previous IT experience.

“When I interviewed Liam I was extremely impressed with his attitude and commitment and that’s been rewarded with a full-time position at TSG. Dean’s passion and excitement for technology were evident, and having won awards for his IT work at school I’m sure that he’ll go on to complete his apprenticeship successfully.”

With STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) crucial to businesses and apprenticeships particularly valuable in building vital technical skills, Microsoft has already assisted 3,500 young people get into apprenticeships as part of the Get On campaign which aims to help 300,000 over the next three years.

Both Liam and Dean have completed the formal training element of their programmes through one of Microsoft’s four select training providers, Firebrand Training UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by TSG .