Congratulations to our (now former) apprentice Ellie McCartney, who has completed her Level 3 Business Administration qualification - in fact, you could say she has 'saled' through it!
Not only has 19-year-old Ellie finished her apprenticeship six months ahead of schedule, one of her college projects, which focused on consolidating our sales office orders, has led to savings of tens of thousands of pounds in the last few months alone.
Ellie, from Chadderton, has been studying with Oldham College for the past 18 months following on her from her Level 2 qualification, which she put herself on and passed with a distinction/star at Tameside College, where she also passed her maths GCSE at the second attempt.
To pass her level three, Sales Administrator Ellie has had to compile a portfolio of evidence showing her understanding of IT, business practices and communications, in addition to practical demonstrations, presentations and assessments, with work done in college, at work and in her own time.
Ellie is crediting Sales Office Supervisor Deon Phoenix for helping her with her latest achievement: "She would give me scenarios to relate back to my college work. It was really helpful. She didn't have the official title of being my mentor, but she did everything you would expect a mentor to do."
And Ellie has now set her sights on becoming a sales rep: "With HPP I know there is a lot of progression if you work hard, and you can get where you want to be. My future goal is to be a rep, I think that would suit me well because I've found that I'm good at selling when I'm doing my day-to-day job - I'm sometimes selling products that don't often get sold."
HPP has a history of commitment to skills and training at all levels and is a keen supporter of apprenticeships.
Dan Mounsey, our Marketing and Business Development Director says: "Apprenticeships enable us to train young people in a way that works best for them and the business, as you can see from what Ellie has achieved in the sales office.
"As a company we are quite unique in what we do, with all the different processes we are almost several businesses in one and to have the opportunity to take young people on and give them experience in various different facets of the business means that as part of their learning, they are also learning about us and our sector.
"But it's also important to give young people a chance. We are a big employer in the Oldham area, so we see it as our responsibility to give something back to our local community, so we are keen to pursue apprenticeships from that point of view as well," he added.
Our support for apprenticeships has certainly won the backing of Ellie, who adds: "HPP has been really good to me. If I've needed any extra time to do college work, they've made sure they've catered for that. They've been the best company I could have asked for to do an apprenticeship with. I'd recommend an apprenticeship to anyone."
Away from HPP, Ellie works in a bar at Delph at the weekends, and is always on hand to support her dad, John Smith, who runs the Heroes of Waterloo restaurant and takeaway in Ashton.