DBC Stalwart Rolls Back The Years!
A YOUNG apprentice has been given the best possible mentor in her new job – the colleague who started in the very same role 20 years ago.
Sabrina Harvey has started a business administration apprenticeship at Durham Business Club, which provides networking and training services across the county.
The 16-year-old has been made to feel extra welcome in her job thanks to her line manager Suzanne Wilkinson, who herself served an apprenticeship with the Club back in 1990.
Sabrina said: “Having Suzanne as my role model is fantastic because she’s been there and done the job and knows what it’s like to be an apprentice. She has been incredibly supportive and I’ve already learned so much from her. I keep joking that one day I hope to have her job.
“It’s also good that my apprenticeship is with the same organisation that is providing my training – even if it does mean they can keep a closer eye on me.”
As well as being a business networking organisation, Durham Business Club provides bespoke training for apprentices in hairdressing, beauty therapy, business administration and accounts.
Sabrina is among the latest crop of business administration apprentices and was delighted to secure a placement at Durham Business Club. Her day-to-day duties include answering phones, managing databases, mail handling and filing.
At the end of the placement, she will graduate with an NVQ Level 2 qualification and hopefully the offer of a long term position.
Sabrina, who left The Hermitage School in Chester-le-Street last year with seven GCSEs, added: “It’s a great opportunity for me because with an apprenticeship you are obviously learning while you work and there’s the incentive of a permanent job at the end of it.”
Suzanne, who is 36, added: “I suppose I’m the proof that apprenticeships work because I have been here since I was 16. I certainly didn’t expect to be here for 20 years but I have enjoyed it all the way through.
“Sabrina has settled in really well and picked things up very quickly. It’s great to have her here because we actually learn from each other because of all the latest training and techniques she is receiving.”
Susan Matthews, work-based learning director at Durham Business Club, added: “It’s funny how things work out with Suzanne now training Sabrina, 20 years after she was an apprentice herself.
“But she’s a fantastic role model and they are both great assets for our business administration team.”
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