Rising star receives Apprentice of the Year award

The awards are supported by Boeing, and Mr Siddall – who works as a production and perforation department manager for C&S Fabrications in Sheffield – will tour the aerospace giant’s commercial aircraft factory facilities in Washington State, outside Seattle in the United States, to see first-hand how it designs, tests and builds its 737, 777, 747 and 787 aeroplanes.

The Apprentice of the Year award uses nominations from employers and trainers who want to recognise the achievement, innovation, fresh thinking or contribution to industry exhibited by apprentices, and is judged by a panel of AMRC Training Centre staff and award sponsors.

Speaking at the awards, Mr Siddall said: “I am totally shocked and surprised to have won Apprentice of the Year – I was grateful just to be nominated. One of the highlights for me over the past year was using the skills I’ve learnt at the AMRC Training Centre to support improvements in-house at C&S Fabrications, such as applying the use of 3D CAD learnt as part of my technical support course.”

Managing director of C&S Fabrications, Shaun Siddall, was at the event and commented: “We are so proud that Ben has won Apprentice of the Year, he is such a fantastic representative for our company.

“He has brought a new different approach to the business and as a result has implemented process improvements that have brought great benefits to our workplace, all completely under his own initiative. Bringing in younger talent definitely brings in fresh new ideas and attitudes and having an apprentice join us from the AMRC has been such a worthwhile experience.”

Director of the AMRC Training Centre, Nikki Jones added: “The Apprentice of the Year awards is the highlight of the Training Centre’s calendar; it is a fantastic opportunity for us to celebrate the achievements of our apprentices and shows, with the right attitude, commitment and support, just what anyone can achieve.

Professor Sir Keith Burnett, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield, concurred: “I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to tonight’s winner Ben on his success.

“I am extremely proud of the ability of the AMRC Training Centre and of the work it does training future generations of much needed engineers, so it is only right to mark the achievements of our talented apprentices and of those who train and mentor them.

AMRC Training Centre www.amrctraining.co.uk

C&S Fabrications www.csfabs.co.uk