Training 2000 Apprentice Success at the Lancashire Apprenticeship Awards
Accounting apprentice, Holly, is celebrating after winning Professional Services Apprentice of the Year Award at the Lancashire Apprenticeship Awards 2024.
Holly started at Training 2000 on the Apprenticeship Preparation Programme and has progressed through Accountancy Apprenticeships to an Account Manager and now is a Finance Manager at Ideal4Finance.
Training 2000’s Apprenticeship Preparation Programme is aimed at giving 16 to 18-year-olds the opportunity to develop the skills they need to find, and succeed onto an Apprenticeship or into employment. Holly began on the Apprenticeship Preparation Programme in September 2020, with the intention of increasing her employability during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In October 2020, Holly secured a Level 3 Accountancy Apprenticeship as an Accounts Assistant at Ideal4Finance and later progressed on to a Level 4 Accountancy Apprenticeship. On her Apprenticeship journey, Holly says: ‘my skills have dramatically developed since I started the Apprenticeship. I joined the workplace as quite a shy individual, and I now confidently run a finance team of 3. I am able to regularly communicate with key stakeholders such as customers, colleagues, directors and even our CEO’.
‘Whilst at Ideal4Finance, I have completed my AAT level 3 qualification, achieving 80%, and I am now part-way through my level 4 studies. Achieving 80% overall in my level 3 qualification was a huge achievement for me and I feel extremely proud to have this qualification under my name. Being promoted to Finance Manager in 2022 was also a huge achievement for me and meant that my employer was recognising my contributions to the organisation.’ – Holly.
As Holly’s time with her employer, Ideal4Finance, progressed over time, she won Employee of the Year in 2022 and again in 2023.
Holly went up against three other finalists for the Professional Services Apprentice of the Year Award and was announced as an award winner at the ceremony which took place at Lancaster University.
Holly is an advocate of Apprenticeships and says: ‘I would definitely recommend the Apprenticeship route to any individual who has an idea of what career path they would like to take, or anyone who is looking to develop their knowledge and skills.
The route allows you to earn whilst you learn and provides a clear pathway for progression if you wish to take it’.
