Babcock International Group

Appledore

Will Bowden

Training Officer

If Will Bowden of Babcock International Group’s Marine Division in Appledore sounds like a keen advocate of apprenticeships, it’s because he’s talking from personal experience.

“I was a fabricating apprentice here and now I’m the Training Officer,” he says. “Why is employing apprentices a good idea? Because you get 40 years of work out of them! You invest early and you mould someone and spot talent.”

One particular talent he’s proud to have spotted belongs to James Atkinson, 20, who is doing an apprenticeship in engineering through Petroc, formerly known as North Devon College.

“James is doing very well,” he says. “He has benefited from having done part of an apprenticeship before which gave him industrial experience.

“He’s realised the benefit of being focused when he’s doing City & Guilds. He’s become a role model for the others and can say to them that he’s done it before and they need to concentrate and not mess about.

“For someone who appeared at first to be a bit of a comedian, he’s done very well and is ahead of the rest.

“He can tell them to get through what they’re doing as quickly as they can and then they can relax without any pressure.”

James spent his first six months at Petroc learning basic workshop skills and doing his City & Guilds. Then he went into the shipyard for welding practice, knowing that his test pieces would go off to be X-rayed!

He went into production, going around the different departments, and spent a couple of weeks in quality assurance make non-destructive testing reports.

“He was the first one to do that and worked very well, helping produce acceptance packages for an aircraft carrier,” says Mr Bowden.

James says he initially did a plumbing apprenticeship but decided to join Babcock and do an engineering one instead.

“I wanted to have a trade behind me and keep me in work for the rest of my working life,” he says.

“I went pipe-fitting in ships and I realised there’s a lot of money to be earned if you can weld as well as being a pipe-fitter.

“The college have been very good, which has made a big difference. The facilities we use are brilliant.”

North Devon College