Nicolas Brooke: Apprentice of the Year 2023

Apprentice of the Year is awarded to an outstanding individual who has made the most of their Apprenticeship programme, inspiring those around them with their attitude, hard work and determination. We are delighted to announce that our Apprentice of the Year for 2023 is Nicolas Brooke of Jungheinrich. Congratulations Nick!

Nicolas (Nick) from Jungheinrich enrolled onto a Team Leader Supervisor Programme and like many learners faced the struggle of juggling a busy home life, a professional qualification, and a full-time role.    

‘The biggest challenge I have had to overcome is how to manage my time with the added academic studies and also the additional duties following my promotion. However, being on program when I secured my new role has given me the tools and knowledge to overcome these issues. Models like Eisenhower, Time trackers, SMART objectives have all helped me to stay on schedule and enabled me to complete all of my duties both “on” and “off” the job to a high standard.’ – Nick Brooke.   

Nick’s hard work and natural leadership ability hasn’t gone unnoticed at Jungheinrich and whilst on programme he has been promoted, moving from aspiring leader to a Senior Technical & Training Specialist Team Leader. His Manager, Alan Power has seen the benefits the apprenticeship has brought: ‘Nick has learnt a lot about himself and various management techniques and practices. In his new role his monthly learning is being put in to practice straight away, which is allowing new ways of thinking to be brought into the energy of how he manages those responsibilities, aligned with the Jungheinrich leadership model. This is having a noted impact on his team and training responsibilities.’  

Apprenticeships are all about practical learning and the Team Leader Supervisor provides tools and techniques for first time managers to develop their career and champions both professional and personal development. Nick agrees: ‘I have collected so many skills along my apprenticeship journey such as project management, management techniques, enhanced my communication skills along with the ability to chair meetings and have difficult conversations. I have also recognised my strengths such as being a good active listener and having real attention to detail.’

Upskilling existing staff who understand the culture of the organisation and the way it works to more senior positions provides a welcome route for career development for the individual and enables organisations to get the best our of their people. 

Victoria Burston, UK L&D agrees: ‘Progressing into a programme of this nature allows for externally benchmarked CMI accredited level techniques to be injected into our business in real time. Learning and implementation of that learning is happening simultaneously, aligned to the 70:20:10 principle. This is attractive over employing a team leader externally, who may not have had managerial learning course, or programme of learning for a number of years, and keeps our leadership styles very current.’