Advanced level apprenticeship achievement

Banks Mining apprentice mechanic Drew Barber completes advanced qualification in record time

A YOUNG Northumberland man working for Banks Mining has hit the accelerator on his career development after completing his advanced apprenticeship qualification in record time.

Twenty-two year-old Drew Barber has been awarded his Advanced Level Apprenticeship certificate in Heavy Vehicle Maintenance by the Institute of the Motor Industry and the Federation of Industry Sector Skills & Standards just three years and four months after starting work towards it – a full six months fewer than it usually takes to get the work done.

Mr Barber joined Banks Mining in 2012 as an apprentice at the company’s Brenkley Lane surface mine, near Cramlington, and trained as a mechanic on the company’s extensive plant fleet, which ranges from O&K RH200 mining shovels to Cat 789 dumptrucks.

He was named as Northumberland College’s Student Of The Year for 2015 in recognition of his studies at its Ashington campus, which formed a core part of the bespoke apprenticeship programme that Banks Mining developed with the college.

Mr Barber has now moved on to the next phase of Banks Mining’s plant department training matrix, which includes being enrolled in the online university run by Caterpillar to help him to further develop his knowledge, improve his skills base and take on more responsibility.

John Welsh, plant assets manager at Banks Mining, said: ‘Drew took up the challenges set when he joined our apprentice programme with exactly the right attitude and degree of application, and he has always impressed us with the way he’s gone about learning new skills.

‘His achievement in completing his advanced apprenticeship in the shortest amount of time that we’re aware it’s been done in is very impressive, and is due reward for his commitment and dedication to his work.’

Banks Mining’s apprenticeship programme includes a comprehensive four-year training programme at the College as well as on-site work, and offers qualifications up to NVQ Level 3 that are specifically relevant to the skills Banks requires, as well as supporting the apprentices in developing a wider range of skills and knowledge that they will be able to use throughout their working lives.

Three new apprentices were recruited from communities near the Shotton site at the end of 2015 as part of Banks’ continuing commitment to providing direct benefits to the area through its local operations.

Mr Welsh continued: ‘Young people need the chance to learn workplace skills that they can take with them right through their career, especially in areas like south-east Northumberland where the number of opportunities to do this has diminished significantly in recent years with the changes in the local industrial landscape.

‘The training that our new apprentices are receiving gives them the foundations on which to build successful careers – they’ve all settled in well, and Drew has set them an excellent example of what they can achieve with us.’