Apprentice Ellie Shepherd has a double motivation to do well in her job - proving a point and showing what girls can achieve in our industry.
Ellie (17) is completing her Level 2 Furniture Manufacturer Apprenticeship with us, making her our first female apprentice in a shopfloor role.
She decided to pursue a manual apprenticeship after seeing her 19-year-old brother Sam working as a cabinet maker and was even more determined when her decision met with scepticism in some quarters.
Ellie says: "I was told I should think about working in a pharmacy, or some kind of work like that. But when I saw what my brother was doing, I said that's what I wanted to do, and even though people said I wouldn't be able to, I said I was going to prove everybody wrong!
"I want to get as many qualifications as I can to go higher in the company, becoming a supervisor and even a manager. And I want to prove that a girl can do that. I think more girls would like it, it's never boring and you're always busy."
The former pupil at the Co-op Academy in Failsworth left school with six GCSEs and started her apprenticeship at another Oldham manufacturing company before joining HPP.
It means Ellie is now 10 months into her qualification with another eight to go, with her current work and studies based on learning about machinery, assembly and jigs.
Ellie, who lives in Chadderton, adds: "I'm learning quickly, and I'm already signed off on the saw, which I'm buzzing about. Everyone here is dead friendly and very professional. I'm grateful I've got this opportunity; they're teaching me such a lot."
Dan Mounsey, our Marketing and Business Development Director, says: "We were originally recruiting for warehouse and logistics, but after we interviewed Ellie it was clear that the role she would be doing with us would fit the Furniture Manufacturer qualification, so it made sense for her to carry on with that rather than start again and lose all the progress she had made."
Ellie is our second young apprentice this year, joining 18-year-old Warren Booth, from Fitton Hill in Oldham, who started out on a government-funded, eight-week traineeship with us before embarking on his Level 2 Warehouse and Logistics Apprenticeship.