Three apprentices have been awarded top of their year at Linde Material Handling’s annual Apprenticeship Awards.

Jack Young, Wesley Edmunds, and David Flint were each of the winners of their respective year groups, with Jack Young being named as the overall apprentice of the year.

This year the event was held at Brooklands Museum on 14th November and celebrated the young people in Linde’s apprenticeship training programme.

Linde currently has 64 apprentices across the four-year programme having taken on 139 apprentices to date.

The course allows young people to gain valuable industry experience which enables them to develop their professional and personal skills while also gaining a formal qualification.

Apprenticeships are at the root of the government’s drive to equip people with the skills that employers need to expand their businesses.

Linde’s industry leading apprenticeship programme teaches a broad range of skills and theory needed to service and repair a large range of forklift trucks and beyond.

The scheme also provides the apprentices with a platform to build their career into other areas of the business.

The winners are chosen using exam and coursework criteria along with testimonials fr-om key stakeholders.

Jack Young, who top apprentice of first year and was also awarded apprentice of the year, works at Linde East Kilbride and received the highest grade out of all the apprentices. Jack said: “Winning the award was a great feeling of recognition for all the hard work put in over the past year.

“To win the overall award on top was very surprising to me, but also a great pleasure.

“The Linde Apprenticeship Programme really appealed to me as I wanted to earn on the job whilst gaining hands on experience.

“Linde has an industry leading programme that provides great training on the entire product range and all systems involved. As an apprentice, no two days are the same which makes work exciting and challenging.

“In the future, I plan to work on Linde’s range of automated trucks such as the K-Matic. This really appeals to me as it combines two of my main interests: real-time computer control systems, and mechanical handling systems.

“Working at Linde is very rewarding and has given me invaluable experience to help progress in my career.”

Shelley Brown, training and apprenticeship manager at Linde Material Handling, said: “The Linde Apprentice Awards recognises all the hard work of our apprentices and is our way of saying thank you for their dedication.

“Research shows that eight in ten managers believe apprentices are vital to their organization’s growth plans.

“This is why it’s important to us that we show our apprentices as valued employees by celebrating their efforts and progression throughout the training programme.

“Jack earned his title of apprentice of the year having received the highest grade out of all the apprentices whilst also being recognised for his work by customers and staff.

“On a customer’s site Jack noticed a potential health and safety risk which he challenged, demonstrating great awareness and initiative particularly fr-om someone in their first year.

“At Linde, being able to provide this opportunity to young people is important to improve our future workforce and give students the experience needed to progress their careers and learn more about our industry.

“We would like to congratulate all our apprentices once again and we look forward to celebrating more achievements fr-om our apprentices.”