Apprentice Josh receives award from home secretary

Marshall-Tufflex engineering apprentice Josh Hayler won’t be forgetting receiving his end-of-training certificate any time soon after it was presented to him by MP for Hastings and Rye (and UK home secretary) Amber Rudd.

Ms Rudd, a keen supporter of apprenticeships and of promoting careers and jobs opportunities for young people within her constituency, visited Marshall-Tufflex’s manufacturing base in Hastings, East Sussex, during National Apprenticeship Week.

Not only did she present Josh with his graduation certificate, she also met apprentices Sam Humphrey, Jon Aherne and Max Loring and was shown around the cable management production plant by Nigel Cutting, manufacturing manager

Ms Rudd said: “I visited Marshall-Tufflex to see how it was marking National Apprenticeship Week and how their apprentices are getting on. It was a pleasure to meet with them and present a certificate to Josh. It was really encouraging to hear the passion and enthusiasm they had for their work and see the value they are adding to the company.”

Marshall-Tufflex says it has been championing apprenticeships for a number of years, initially launching the programme to meet the need for engineering resource. The company linked with SIGTA to recruit and train the apprentices, who were assigned mentors and worked towards an NVQ Level 3 Advanced Modern Apprenticeship in Engineering qualification.

Kevin Page, Marshall-Tufflex chairman, said: “We were delighted to welcome Amber to our headquarters. She is a great advocate of businesses and young people in her constituency and made her support really personal by finding the time to drop in and present Josh with his certificate and spend time with our other apprentices. They all really appreciated it, as did we.”