Excellence in Galvanizing
A training co-ordinator has himself been named as one of the best apprentices in the country.
Stuart Davies had always relied on almost 20 years’ experience in the trade to provide a guiding hand to the next generation of workers at at Edward Howell Galvanizers in Wednesfield.
But the 35-year-old signed up to the company’s specialised training programme last year – and has now been named runner-up in a national competition.
The initiative to find the best apprentice in the metal industry is organised by the historic Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers.
And Stuart, from Wolverhampton, was delighted to discover he’d done so well.
He said: “It’s a nationwide award so even to be shortlisted was quite an achievement.
“To find out I’d only just missed out on winning it is a feather in my cap. It’s certainly nice to have such recognition.
“One of my roles is to mentor our apprentices so I thought I’d take part of the training programme myself, both to help the new starters and as a learning exercise for me.
“I did so well in the Level 2 Performance Management course that my HR manager put me forward for the award.”
Having been chosen for final seven, Stuart travelled to Sheffield to give a presentation to the judging panel and was eventually named runner-up in the competition.
Stuart joined Edward Howell Galvanizers as a 16-year-old in the year 2000 and learned every job in the shop floor before becoming team leader 10 years later.
He was promoted to process controller and then shift manager before being made training co-ordinator in 2018.
He now supervises 10 apprentices as part of the company’s apprenticeship scheme, which is linked to the Collective Ambition initiative operated by Wedge Group Galvanizing Ltd.
He added: “It’s great to act as a mentor to the new generation coming through, but I’m also keen to continue my own learning.
“I’m now taking an 18-month Level 3 course on Business and Leadership and will move on to more after that.
“It’s all about personal development and it’s great that staff both at Edward Howell and in the nationwide business are given such great opportunities.”
by Wedge Group Galvanizing Ltd