Member Article

Benfield apprentice shifts up a gear into new management role

A local apprentice who started as a business administration assistant more than a decade ago at Newcastle-based car dealership Benfield Motor Group has now progressed to customer engagement manager, thanks to help from Access Training.

Access Training placed 28-year-old Toni Nelson at Benfield Motor Group in 2003 to gain hands on workplace experience and complete her NVQ Level 2 in business administration. She quickly realised her thirst for knowledge and went on to complete her Level 3 in business administration, Level 2 and 3 in management, underwent a CMI Diploma in management and leadership at Gateshead College and has recently finished her management Level 5 higher apprenticeship with Access. She is also completing a certificate in professional marketing.

As customer engagement manager, Toni manages a total of 53 staff, including Benfield’s database administration team, four after sales departments, and several customer service staff. More recently, Toni has been given responsibility of a team of ten sales staff.

Miss Nelson said: “I can’t believe I’ve been at Benfield for so long. I finished school at 16 and after a brief placement at a local college decided that I was ready to work. I’d always envisaged a corporate career and when I spotted an advert from Access Training advising that I could learn and work, I jumped at the opportunity.

“The amount of knowledge I have gained from Access Training, especially my trainer Sue Tomlinson, has been amazing. It has been instrumental in giving me self-confidence, which has definitely helped my career progression at Benfield.

“I’m an advocate of apprenticeships, so much so that at the moment nine members from my teams are training with Access Training. The courses differ dependent on the individual, some are just at the start of their career paths so are doing level 2 in customer service but I also have one team leader doing a Level 2 Team Leader Intermediate Apprenticeship, and another doing a Level 3 Advanced Management Apprenticeship. I have no doubt that they will want to continue expanding their knowledge base.”

Sue Tomlinson, Toni’s trainer, added: “I have witnessed Toni evolve and grow as a manager and as a person. She has shown just how much can be achieved by enrolling on an apprenticeship programme, and has gone from a young adult with no work experience to a very successful manager, and I’m sure the story won’t end there.”

Lyn Carruthers, people development manager at Benfield Motor Group added: “I’m delighted to say that Benfield Motor Group has benefitted from an excellent working relationship with Access Training for over 12 years now.

“Initially our requirement was to recruit apprentices in junior admin roles, however, together with Access Training we have been able to fully support a large number colleagues throughout their careers with Benfield into more senior positions. It is something which we are all very proud of and look forward to continuing to progress in the future”

Access Training is an award-winning training provider with offices in Gateshead and Durham. It has been delivering training programmes for businesses and individuals across the North East for 30 years.

The Access Training courses last between 12 and 24 months dependent upon the level undertaken, and are a mixture of workplace training, workshops, projects and assessments. All courses come with a qualification as standard such as an NVQ, and where appropriate functional skills in Mathematics, English and IT.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Baxter (Trumpet Communications) .