Leigh meets former apprentice and legend Sir Alex Ferguson

Our very own apprentice, Leigh Worsdale got to meet former Manchester United manager and advocate of apprentices, Sir Alex Ferguson recently.

Sir Alex was visiting apprentices at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), where Leigh studies part time alongside her work here at Foxwood Diesel.

As part of his visit he toured the 5,500 sq m centre which was established in response to industry needs and has now become a centre of excellence for engineering and manufacturing training.

Leigh, who joined Foxwood Diesel last year, was one of the apprentices at the AMRC event who got to meet the legend that is Sir Alex. She said: “It was a great opportunity to meet a man that is such a strong advocate of apprenticeships. It is a reminder that there are people who are influential who understand the importance of learning on the job. And of course, he is one of the success stories behind apprenticeships, it’s not all the time you can go on to win 13 Premier League titles.”

Sir Alex originally visited AMRC in February 2013 when the centre first opened. On his return Sir Alex told the apprentices that he knows the value of grasping life changing opportunities: At the visit he said: “The centre is unbelievably impressive, the opportunities you have here are fantastic and you should seize them, to improve and build your skills wherever possible.

“What you will learn here, the valuable life skills along with the qualifications you will gain will hold you in good stead for the future.”

The retired Manchester United manager is a large supporter of apprentices having started out as an apprentice tool maker in Glasgow himself, before bringing Manchester 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two UEFA Champions league titles. He urged businesses to start trusting in apprentices and promoting them.

He added: “Apprenticeships give you a work force, a regeneration of people coming through. We need opportunities for apprenticeships to give young people chances to get success. I'm delighted to be here and I applaud that.”

We agree. Foxwood Diesel has a long tradition of recruiting apprentices and developing them. A number of the team started their careers with us as apprentices, including our workshop supervisor Matt Jamson.

Matt joined Foxwood Diesel straight from school and has been with company 17 years. As well as being our workshop supervisor Matt is also assess qualified to assess apprentices at NVQ Level 2 and 3.