A HIGH flying telecoms apprentice is ringing the changes for his future after scooping a prestigious educational award.
Daniel Potts, of Esh Winning, Durham, was named Contact Centre Operations Apprentice of the Year at The Darlington College Student Awards 2013.
Daniel, who is currently undertaking a 15 month apprenticeship with Darlington-based telecommunications giant EE, formally Orange, collected his award in front of hundreds of students and invited guests after being nominated by Darlington College’s EE contact apprentice training tutor Mandy Wardrop.
“When Daniel first came to college he was quite shy and didn’t really enjoy the experience,” said Mandy.“However after a couple of months settling in and building up his confidence he really started to turn things around and went from not enjoying his education to really engaging with it.
“He travels in from Durham to Darlington everyday with an early start and a late finish, all on public transport, and his attendance is excellent.“He’s even gone on to represent the college at a business seminar to talk to other young people and businesses about the advantages of apprenticeships and the feedback that we have had from his employers has been exemplary.”
The College’s awards were presented by principal Tim Grant and college governor Colonel Nick Millen.Accolades covered all programme areas including sport and uniformed services, hospitality and catering, childcare, health and social care, hairdressing and beauty therapy, construction and engineering, journalism, motor vehicles, media and art and design, computing, business administration and tourism.
Daniel, 19, said: “It was a total shock when they called my name out as the winner. It did take me a little while to settle into the course but it’s been great.
There are some really nice people here at the college and the tutors have been brilliant.“Being an apprentice I work 9am to 5pm everyday at EE, leaving the house at 6.20am every morning, and come into college once every two weeks.
Apprenticeships are a great way to get practical job skills and earn as you learn.
Working at EE has been brilliant and I hope that’s where my long term future lies.”EE manager Sue Gray, who has also nominated Daniel for the UK National Apprentice of the Year Award, added: “From the moment I took over the apprenticeship programme at EE Daniel stood out.
“He is a massive advocate for our brand and delivers exceptional results. He is currently doubling his sales targets and achieving the same as some of our most established staff.“I think that it is amazing for him to receive this award and I can see him having a bright future with our company.
