Following a dream leads to top apprentice accolade

NAILA Bibi is a young woman who has followed her dream and as a result finds herself chosen as Apprentice of the year at the coveted Asian Apprenticeship Awards.

The 17-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent who works for Aspire Housing also took the Finance, Legal and Professional Services award at the gala evening at the Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham.

She gave up her summer holiday to take part in a programme to prepare her for apprenticeship training. An eight week placement in the HR department at Aspire Housing led to the chance of a two year Business Administration Apprenticeship that she started in September 2016.

Naila was a student at the Discovery Academy in Stoke-on-Trent. She worked in a charity shop to improve her communications skills and in her final year at school took part in a mentoring programme.

Faced with the choice the enterprising young woman was clear that she preferred the option of the hands on work experience that comes with an apprenticeship to the option of going to college to study for ‘A’ levels.

Naila was influenced by her sister who is aged 21 who she has seen progress from an apprenticeship with a firm of Solicitors to gaining full time employment and legal qualifications.

“There has been a tremendous response to the awards and very worthy winners,” said Safaraz Ali, Managing Director of The Pathway Group and founder of The Asian Apprenticeship Awards.

“All of our winners are to be congratulated and will have played an important part of raising awareness of the value of apprenticeships both for employers and young British Asians.”

The Apprentice of the Year at the Asian Apprenticeship Awards is sponsored by APM and the Financial, Legal and Professional Services category is sponsored by BMET.

Naila was just one of a great list of apprentices and employers who were recognised at the awards.

The full list of winners are:

Financial, Legal and Professional Services

Sponsor: BMET

Apprentice: Naila Bibi of Aspire Housing

Employer: Societe Generale

Health, Medical and Social Care

Sponsor: Learning Curve Group

Apprentice: Neelam Raham of Spamedia

Employer: Derbyshire Care Services

Retail, Hospitality and Tourism

Sponsor: ICQ

Apprentice: Mehreen Ayub of Admiral Recruitment

Employer: Sparkbrook Pharmacy

Charity, Voluntary Organisations and Public Services

Sponsor: Royal Air Force

Apprentice: Arandeep Pannu of Wolverhampton Council

Employer: Barnardo’s ETS Yorkshire

Construction

Sponsor: Dudley College

Apprentice: Deve Shokar of DMA Mechanical & Air Conditioning

Employer: K10 Apprenticeships

Engineering and Manufactiuring

Sponsor: In Comm Training

Apprentice: Kiran Samra of Rolls Royce

Employer: Siemens

Creative and Digital

Sponsor: Jisc

Apprentice: Asif Rahman of Digi Lab

Employer: British Telecom

Transport and Logistics

Sponsor: The National Skills Academy

Apprentice: Asad Ali of Certas Energy UK

Employer: Euro car Parts

Small Employer of the Year

Sponsor: Severn Trent Water

Winner: Market Street Health Group

Large Employer of the Year

Sponsor: Collab Group

Winner: Ryder

School or Academy of the Year

Sponsor: NOCN

Winner: Cardinal Newman Secondary School

Learning Provider of the Year

Sponsor: AELP

Winner: Nova Training

Overall Contribution to Apprenticeships

Sponsor: The Pathway Group

Winner: Sue Husband of ESFA

Apprentice of the Year

Sponsor: APM

Winner: Naila Bibi