Microsoft Announces Winner of Apprentice of the Year 2013
London (PRWEB) July 12, 2013 -- Microsoft last night announced the winner of its 2013 Apprentice of the Year competition. Jamie Sauvarin from BrightStarr Ltd in Eashing, Surrey, was chosen from the hundreds of apprentices employed by Microsoft and its partner businesses and was given his award by the Minister of State for Employment at a ceremony at the House of Commons .
The Microsoft apprenticeship programme is part of the company’s commitment to providing the relevant training and skills to young people in the UK to help them succeed in the workplace. Microsoft partners with training providers QA, Firebrand, Baltic and Remit and 30,000 IT businesses across the UK to deliver the apprenticeships. The Apprentice of the Year awards also recognise the support provided by this partner network of businesses and training providers.
Jamie Sauvarin, BrightStarr Ltd said:
“I’ve really enjoyed my time at BrightStarr so far and I’m so happy to have won this award. My apprenticeship has made me even keener to work in IT and has given me a chance to get the skills I need to do that. I would like to say thank you to Microsoft and BrightStarr for giving me this opportunity.”
Jamie was nominated by Microsoft partner business BrightStarr Ltd for his hard work throughout the apprenticeship. He was commended in particular for managing the difficulty of moving to a different training provider halfway through his apprenticeship. This resulted in it taking longer than anticipated for him to complete his learning, but throughout he maintained a positive attitude towards the difficulties – all of which were out of his control. This attitude has meant he is both admired and respected by his colleagues.
The Microsoft apprenticeship programme is part of the company’s Get On programme, which aims to help 300,000 British 16-24 year olds into work by 2015.
Hugh Milward, Director of Corporate Affairs, Microsoft said:
“There is a huge wealth of talent here in the UK and it’s really important to celebrate the achievements of these apprentices, who have developed their skills and started an apprenticeship during tough economic times. The great news is that these young people are now firmly on the career ladder; 93% of Microsoft apprentices stay with our partner businesses and move into a fully qualified role. These awards recognise their hard work, determination and achievements so far, which will stand them in good stead for a successful career in IT and will help maintain the talent pipeline we have in the UK."
Microsoft developed the IT Apprenticeship to help businesses access talent to build their businesses, and as a way for young people to gain high quality IT skills and long term employment. As part of Get On, Microsoft has committed to creating 4000 apprenticeships by 2015.
Mark Hoban MP, Minister of State for Employment, said:
“This government is committed to ensuring our young people are given the best chance to get on in life - that's why we set up the Youth Contract: a scheme that will offer 500,000 opportunities to young people over three years. In order for the scheme to work we rely on businesses like Microsoft opening their doors to aspirational young people; giving them the opportunity to gain the skills and training they need to get into work. It’s great to be here today to celebrate the achievements of these apprentices at a very exciting time in their careers.”
Microsoft has a worked to help people in the UK find jobs for more than a decade. In 2009, it launched Britain Works, the company’s commitment to helping 500,000 people into employment, which it achieved through a combination of partnerships with NGOs, skills training and apprenticeships – which are a crucial way of finding talent, developing skills and fuelling the talent pipeline of the IT industry. The Get On programme builds on Britain Works and is specifically aimed at helping 16-24 year olds as youth unemployment remains an issue in the UK.
For more information or to sign up for Get On programmes, please visit:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MicrosoftGetOn
Twitter: @getonUK #GetOn
About the Company
BrightStarr is an award winning SharePoint Gold partner, and the firm has a team of dynamic SharePoint consultants, who have got years of experience in handling enterprise scale projects. Our uniqueness is the blend of both creative and technical skills that when combined deliver truly extraordinary digital experiences with the perfect balance of form and factor.
Rich Paterson co-founded BrightStarr in 2006 with Will Saville, and over the next 5 years, both of them helped the company in becoming a key player in the SharePoint services market.
With the series of seminars, BrightStarr hopes to spread awareness about the features of SharePoint 2013, and generate more clients in the process.
You can contact BrightStarr on +44 (0)1483 239240 in the UK and +1 888 777 6850 in the USA or visit their official website http://www.brightstarr.com/.
Twitter: @BrightStarr_SP
Rich Paterson, BrightStarr, http://www.brightstarr.com/, 44 (0)1483 239240, [email protected]
Share this article