Plumber becomes apprentice of the year
The national apprentice of the year is a plumber — Thomas Pearson, centre, has demonstrated commitment to his personal development and high levels of workmanship and helped increase his company’s turnover by 67% since 2002. He is pictured with Olympic gold medallists Sir Matthew Pinsent (left) and Garry Herbert.
Young plumber Thomas Pearson has been named Apprentice of the Year at the National Apprenticeship Awards. He was presented with his award by Olympic gold medallists Sir Matthew Pinsent (left) and Garry Herbert (right), having beaten over 500 entrants for the award. Since joining his Cheltenham-based employer Fraser Morphew in 2002, Thomas Pearson has helped increase the company’s turnover by 67%. He also impressed the company so much with his abilities that he was given his own van, enabling him to take responsibility for his own work, independently from his manager. This in turn added to the volume of work that this small business could take on, further improving turnover. Keith Marshall, chief executive of SummitSkills, one of the judges, said, ‘The contribution that Thomas has made to his company’s turnover is a real-life example of how recruiting an apprentice can pay dividends to a small business. It also demonstrates the very clear link between training and the bottom line.’
