‘Happy with my choices’

Today, we hear from Ellie Phillip, who is a Cohort 2 apprentice account manager in our sales team, and one of our youngest colleagues. 

‘I finished sixth form in the summer of 2018 after completing A-Levels in Business, Geography and Art,’ said Ellie. ‘Throughout my sixth form, I had no idea what I wanted to do, only that I didn’t want to attend university full-time as I wanted to get ahead in the world of work.

‘After working around 30 hours a week as a lifeguard during my sixth form, I knew I could never go back to not earning money so I began looking for apprenticeships. The Royal Mail apprenticeship immediately stuck out to me as a brilliant way to carry on learning whilst also earning money in a real profession.

‘Sales is not something I had considered previously, simply because I didn’t think it was something I could become involved in with no experience. However, the opportunity to be trained up and moulded into the sales person Royal Mail wanted me to be, was too good to pass up!

‘The level of support and guidance I’ve received already is amazing and I feel a valued member of the team. My network across the business grows every day and I am so grateful for how helpful and understanding everyone is to us as we continue to learn.

‘As one of the youngest members of Royal Mail at the moment, I find myself feeling quite smug with my current role and life when catching up with my friends at university at weekends! In the little village where I live, most people’s only option is to move away to university or join a local trade. I’m so happy with my choices to steer away from the traditional university routes pushed at us at school, and also with my decision to take the leap and begin working in Leeds city centre - the three-hour commute is definitely worth it!

‘I’m currently working with a portfolio of 181 customers. I’m really enjoying the responsibility and finding it easy to learn in this fast-paced environment. I am getting the opportunity to go on a series of field visits within the business, which I’m finding really interesting, to help me decide where I would like to progress to in the future. I want to expand into other parts of the business and the fact that I know the business is investing a lot of time and effort with me, motivates me to push myself to improve.’

Youth & Friends

To find out more about the Youth & Friends steering group, share ideas and feedback or suggest ways we can better engage with younger colleagues, please email youthnetwork@royalmail.com.

If you want to join the Youth & Friends Facebook group, please email with your name, location and employee number and they will send you an invite.