Fantastic ambassador
Fleet apprentice vehicle technician, Caitlin Slade, who won the Apprentice of the Year award at the 2019 Everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards, says she hopes to inspire young people to see mechanics as a career anyone can attain.
With more than 550 Royal Mail vehicles assigned to Chichester workshop, Caitlin plays an important role in keeping our delivery operation functioning efficiently; it’s one where vehicle schedules run to the minute, so any delay in getting a vehicle repaired impacts directly on customer service and our service level agreements.
Caitlin initially trained to be a chef and spent almost 10 years working in a number of restaurants including French chef Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire. However, it was her passion for working on vehicles that started from an early age when she used to help her dad fix cars, which motivated her to switch careers and apply for Royal Mail Fleet’s Apprentice Scheme in 2015.
Having successfully passed our assessment and interview stages, Caitlin was placed in our Chichester workshop where she is part of a team maintaining more than 500 cars, vans and trucks. She is making excellent progress through her four-year apprenticeship, having recently passed her NVQ Light Vehicles at level 3. She is now completing her NVQ HGV level 3 module in which she is in her final year.
Over the last three years, she has developed her competency in repairing all types of vehicles from cars to 44-tonne trucks and in complex repairs to gearboxes, clutches and electrical diagnosis. She has also completed a welding course and is a qualified first-aider.
‘When I won the Apprentice of the Year award I was totally overwhelmed, said Caitlin. ‘Meeting all the other nominees and seeing what a fantastic role they play in the transport and logistics workforce has really boosted my confidence and given me an insight into what I can achieve.
‘The apprenticeship programme has given me an opportunity to develop my skills in an area that would have been near impossible for me to enter. It hasn’t always been plain sailing being accepted into a male-dominated workforce, but I’ve never let this be a barrier and have continued to work hard to prove that I was given an apprentice role based on my skill set and not on my gender.’
Fleet workshop manager South London cluster, Keith Swetman, said: ‘Caitlin has been a model apprentice from day one at her assessment. She is always willing to try new tasks to expand her knowledge.
‘She is keen, considerate of others and very reliable. An all-round good team member.’
