Meet our finance and HR apprentices

To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week we continue to profile some of our incredible apprentices that are currently combining studies with industry experience. Today, we speak to some from our finance and HR teams to showcase just some of the opportunities available with the NEC Group.

Chris Trigg is  working as an Assistant Commercial Accountant, while studying for his ACCA with Kaplan Financial.

Tell us about your apprenticeship role.

I qualified with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Business from the University of Swansea. I’ve taken on this apprenticeship as the next step of my training as to progress my career in the way I’d like to, I need the industry qualifications. Once I’ve completed this apprenticeship my aim is to become a commercial accountant in the NEC. Working in the sports industry would be a field of interest but haven’t thought about it too much just yet.

How has your apprenticeship been so far?

To qualify as an accountant you have to give details of experience, and I’m most definitely getting a lot of that here!  I need to complete what’s known as a knowledge, skills and behaviour tracker and my experience with the NEC Group is helping me build a really robust body of examples for submission.

I also need to conduct a research project towards the end of the apprenticeship, plus a final exam which I’ll need to put the hours in for, but it’ll be worth it.

Emilia was recruited as an Accounts Assistant for NEC Group Finance in September 2019. Then at the end of last year, was promoted into her current role in the Banking and Treasury department.

How do you balance working and studying? Tell us where you’re studying too.

I attend Solihull College one day a week, where I am studying to achieve my Level 4 AAT qualification. I balance working and studying by dedicating certain evenings and part of my weekends to go over what I’ve learnt in my lectures.

Would you recommend an apprenticeship to other people thinking about it?

Definitely, I was a bit sceptical before applying for my apprenticeship as I didn’t know what to expect. However, I’ve realised that learning and earning at the same time is the right way forward as it enables you to get experience and a qualification. During my time with the Group I’ve learnt so much which has complemented my studies.

Pete started his Level 3 HR apprenticeship in May 2021 with Acacia Learning and works as an Event Support Co-ordinator at the ICC.

How has your apprenticeship been so far? Can you tell us about some highlights?
I love collaborating with other people in similar roles to mine across the country, sharing our experiences and knowledge. It’s always great to get a new perspective on how to do things.

How long will it be until you finish your apprenticeship and what are you hoping will happen when you’ve finished?
I should finish around June this year. Currently, I think I would like to progress to the next level, which is Level 5.