Winning apprentice

Congratulations to Matthew Shillings, who won Advanced Apprentice of the Year for his region (Yorkshire and the Humber) in the National Apprenticeship Awards 2018.

Matthew now goes through to the national awards, which will be announced at a ceremony on 28 November.  

‘The competition was outstanding and I am very proud to have got this far in the awards,’ said Matthew. ‘Personally, I think it is down to Royal Mail for giving me the opportunities to excel myself.’

Matthew originally trained as a vehicle technician at his local Nissan dealership before deciding to move into engineering. He then applied for Royal Mail’s engineering apprenticeship scheme and is now an automation maintenance engineer at Leeds mail centre, where he repairs, maintains and improves our automation machines.

Matthew has ambitions to climb the ladder at Royal Mail. ‘In the long term, I would like to progress into engineering management and become a leader at Royal Mail,’ he said. ‘We have so much potential. With new technologies and a bit of innovation we can become so much more efficient.’

Matthew advises anyone looking to apply for an apprenticeship to be confident and positive. ‘You have nothing to lose, only yourself to drive forward,’ he said. ‘Without a doubt, getting onto this apprenticeship has changed my life.’  

Applications are open for the 2019 apprenticeship and graduate programmes. Click here for more details.