Apprentice of innovation: Jacob engineers a bright future at Highway Care
As a company that has been in business for close to five decades, we have seen a lot of fresh talent come through the doors here at Highway Care. Whether those individuals have joined us as an apprentice, a graduate, or as an experienced professional, we have nurtured their talent and opened the door to rewarding careers for them, and they have been part of our commitment to delivering innovative solutions for a safer future.
Apprenticeships are a great way for any company to create career opportunities locally and bring fresh thinking into their organisation. They also provide an ideal way of enabling skilled and knowledgeable employees to pass on their experience to the next generation, as part of a sustainable skills strategy.
This National Apprenticeship Week (10 – 16 February), we’re shining the spotlight on Jacob Camden-Redding, a Highway Care apprentice who joined us in 2022. Aged just 17. In that time, Jacob has impressed everyone with how quickly he has adapted to the workplace and taken an active role in shaping the way our workshop operates. Jacob has learned from his colleagues, just as you might expect, but his colleagues have also learned from him, and his achievements are a great endorsement of the apprenticeship model.
An apprentice’s eye view
Our Marketing Executive, Kelly Cronin caught up with Jacob to ask him a few questions about his experience of being an apprentice with Highway Care and his career highlights so far.
What made you decide that the apprenticeship route was the best route for you?
It was really the opportunity to work at Highway Care rather than wanting to go down the apprenticeship route that drew me to the job. I had planned to go back to college to play rugby but, after spending the summer working in the production department, I was offered my apprenticeship. As I’d enjoyed my time in the workshop so much, I decided to take up the opportunity.
An apprenticeship really suits my style of learning – I’m more hands on than academic. The apprenticeship does involve some classroom learning at college, but the majority of my time is spent in the workshop, learning from my colleagues as I work. It really suits me, and I enjoy being able to practice my skills and work as part of the team. I think learning in this kind of environment gives you skills that you can only get from apprenticeship-style training, such as problem-solving and collaboration.
It’s also a real confidence boost, because the effort I put in comes back to me as respect from my colleagues. The support I get is amazing and they always invest the time to give me detailed answers to any questions, so I’m building on my experience and knowledge every day.
When I have assignments from college, it’s really useful to be able to talk to experienced colleagues about my work, and they are always so helpful. I often bring in my assignments into work if I’m stuck, or I just want a fresh pair of eyes on it. The company is really supportive too, giving me the time and space to complete my coursework alongside my work.
How do you think the apprenticeship has helped you develop your career?
I think I’ve been very lucky with my apprenticeship because I have been able to work on live projects since day one, and I work in an environment where colleagues are interested in my ideas and value my work. I’m also working for company that has real purpose – what I do at work every day helps people stay safer on the roads, it’s nice to think that my work is making a positive difference to people’s lives.
The engineering skills I’m learning at Highway Care and the qualification I’m working towards have very varied applications, and I’m gaining a broad understanding of the discipline here, which gives me so many options for career development. Engineering is all about problem solving and finding the best solution, and I think that’s a great approach to tackling any job role.
What are your favourite things about your job?
One of the most important things is the people I work with; I have felt welcome and part of the team since my very first day, and I always feel like everyone is here to support me and help me be as good at my job as I can possibly be.
I also love the variety. No two days are ever the same; I may be working on a vertical light arrow one day, and mini light arrow the next. I even get to work on product development projects, and it’s exciting to work on initiatives that are at the cutting edge of innovation in our sector!
Talking of innovation, you have initiated a project of your own, what is that?
The project is called the ‘Cable Dispenser’ and it stemmed from an idea I had when we had a very busy workload in the workshop. We were spending valuable time cutting cables and sorting them into sets.
We use cables in batches of 15, but the rig we were using only held 2 at a time, so I started to think about how we could streamline the process by getting more cables cut at once, and, at the same time, avoid the need to have reels on the workshop floor so that we can all move around the space more easily and safely.
The cable dispensing device I’ve created holds more than 8 cable reels. This allows us to hold all the cables we need at once, so that none are cluttering up the floor space. I wanted us to be able to move the device round the workshop easily, so I decided to add wheels, but I knew any wheels would need to have integral brakes so that it was safe. Because we didn’t have any wheels available with casters and brakes, I had to innovate and came up with the idea of using a BG800 wheelset, with the addition of a metal element that could be adjusted with a ratchet to raise the dispenser off the floor so that it would remain static.
My idea worked really well and has delivered huge time-savings for the workshop, as well as making our cable use more convenient and safer. The device is already in use by the whole team in our workshop and it will form part of my apprenticeship for the specialist engineering unit, so I’m doing the documentation for my college folder, which includes getting an engineering drawing together and taking pictures (I’ll give it another lick of paint for that!).
What have been the most important things you’ve learned from your apprenticeship?
I’ve learned to be more methodological in my thinking and planning. The old ‘measure twice, cut once’ mantra of the workshop environment is a good way to approach everything. If you care about what you do, it’s always important to prioritise doing it well, and that piece of advice has helped me at college as well as at work.
A career awaits
Jacob is due to finish his apprenticeship at Highway Care this summer, and, having already impressed us with his initiative, creativity, and enthusiasm for learning, we’re excited to see his career develop in the direction he decides.
