Hampshire teenager wins Highly Commended Apprentice of the Year with PETA

19 year old Thomas Bird, the most recent recruit in Powertecnique’s apprenticeship scheme, was awarded a Highly Commended Apprentice of the Year by PETA for his work in the engineering sector earlier this month. Out of 400 nominees, Thomas made it to the top ten due to his hard work, enthusiasm and commitment to his apprenticeship training with power specialists, Powertecnique.

His supervisor commented that Bird was ‘ahead of his group so he was able to complete his initial six month training faster, he was always eager to learn more and to improve throughout his apprenticeship.’

Powertecnique has previously been praised for the support it provides to its staff. In 2013 it won the South Coast Business Award for Commitment to Education and Training at the South Coast Business Awards, and earlier this year the company attained One to Watch status from The Times Top 100 Best Small Companies to Work For.

Powertecnique managing director, Darren Pearce says: “I started off in this industry as an apprentice and I recognise the importance of training people up through apprenticeship schemes and graduate development. Our apprentice scheme runs for three-and-a-half years and effectively provides the business with the engineers it needs to continually innovate and grow. In this regard our apprenticeship scheme is central to our strategy.”

Founded in 1991, Powertecnique is one of the UK’s leading independent manufacturers of UPS and diesel generators. The 64-strong workforce comprises a nationwide-team of engineers, in-house project management team and administration support team.