Start Date: 2003
Location: Leicester
“I started out as an apprentice car mechanic straight from school and worked in a garage for a year after completing my apprenticeship. In 2003 I moved to Bradgate Bakery as an operative on the production line. After doing this job for about five years, I was then offered a line supervisor role. l subsequently became a machine operator team leader.
Thanks to my car mechanic apprenticeship, I had a mechanical engineering background but Samworth Brothers was looking for more multi-skilled engineers. So, a few years ago, I was chosen to undertake an electrical engineering apprenticeship. This was a three-year day release course at Leicester College, where I attained a BTEC Diploma in electrical engineering.
I am now a Team Leader in Engineering, with responsibility for a whole team of six maintenance engineers and two Apprentices. It is our team’s job to keep production going and to carry out planned maintenance. This means we need to liaise closely with the hygiene team to plan out production down time so we can clean and maintain the machines.
I work with every department within Bradgate Bakery – wherever my help is needed. The challenge of finding the problem and fixing the machines is one of the things I really enjoy about this job. The other thing I enjoy is that there is always something new to learn. For example, I am currently working on an interesting automation project in the bakery which is looking at how we can improve our current processes even further.
A few years ago, when I was on the production line, I never thought I would end up as an Engineering Team Leader. The goal I have set my sights on now is to become an Engineering Manager.”