Rentokil apprentices tell their stories this National Apprenticeship Week

National Apprenticeship Week (9-15 February 2026) is an annual celebration that brings together businesses and apprentices across the country to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make.

Rentokil is among the employers in the pest control industry who are utilising funding from the Growth and Skills Levy (previously the Apprenticeship Levy) to drive up customer service standards and improve operational efficiency.

Working with iCQ Awards, they offer the Level 2 and Level 3 apprenticeships, both to existing staff and new recruits. Rentokil’s Daniel Hawkins and Sinead Tarney, speak to us about their experiences of apprenticeship training and the ways in which it has supported them to progress in their careers.

Do you feel that your apprenticeship experience has helped you to be successful in your role?

Daniel Hawkins (DH) The Level 3 Team Leader/Supervisor apprenticeship exposed me to new challenges, ideas and opportunities. The most valuable skill I learnt, which helps me every day, is emotional intelligence. The course made me realise that everyone is different – everyone has different goals, different learning styles, different reasons to get out of bed and go to work every day.

Sinead Tarney Multiple times. Once, when creating training content some of the theories that we learnt and recognised in the apprenticeship could be shared with other colleagues during soft skills training, going over this at a later date really cemented to me how much I had learnt. Including these in the courses also added to the depth and increased the quality of what we delivered while furthering the trainee’s knowledge in certain areas.

Secondly, some areas learnt such as theories of motivation came up in an assignment of a later qualification that I achieved when becoming a qualified trainer and assessor, having this previous knowledge and understanding was beneficial to me as it made it easier to complete it, now I mark these qualifications as part of my role and learning this has helped me be a better mentor and assessor as I have an in depth knowledge of the subject.

An apprenticeship combines classroom learning with working on the job. How valuable do you think this is for career development?

DH I think completing this course alongside your day job is crucial, as it allows you to apply your new skills in real-time, and allows you to see first-hand the impacts of your changes on yourself and your job. Learning about skills in a classroom is one thing, but being able to simultaneously apply them to your work gives you a whole new level of knowledge and experience.

ST I found it valuable as it gave me variation and exposure that I would not have otherwise had in the role at the stage I was in. For example, being involved in a disciplinary meeting up skilled me in the ability to have difficult conversations with people in the workplace. If I had not needed to have evidence of this, at around a year in the role I don’t believe I would have had the opportunity to do this.

Has your apprenticeship opened up careers opportunities that may not have been accessible to you otherwise?

ST: I completed this Apprenticeship when I was a team leader, although the qualification was not a requirement for the job I went for following this, I feel like it steered me into the direction of learning and development and knowledge of our wider business. The skills and confidence that I built in the time period completing the assessment are second to none and I still have friendships that were formed during this period that wouldn’t have happened otherwise as our paths may not have crossed, it was a journey that we all went through together.

DH: During the completion of this apprenticeship course, I was promoted from my role as Service Manager, into my current role as Local Operations Manager. By completing the course, I was able to develop myself as a person and develop how I manage teams. I strongly believe that the skills I gained from this course, the confidence I gained and the connections I made, gave me the opportunity and ambition to progress in my career.

Finally, what is your advice to anyone in the pest control industry who may be considering an apprenticeship?

ST I would suggest they go for it, even if their career path does not have the qualification as a requirement. The exposure to the business I received as well as the collaboration with other people and departments inspired me to go for the role I am working in today. The knowledge cemented with hands on experience as well as training and writing, which pushed me out of my comfort zone at times, but in a good way. Without it, I would have likely felt more stuck in my previous role and not known exactly what to do to develop myself.

DH Taking yourself out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself is the ultimate path to development. Completing an apprenticeship not only gives you a qualification, it gives you life skills that benefit yourself and everyone around you.