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National Apprenticeship Week takes place in February each year, with the aim to highlight how apprenticeships are a great option for young people starting a career, for employees looking to progress in their current role or retrain for a new career, or for employers needing to fill skills gaps to help grow their business.

Ahead of the week-long celebration we spoke with Daren Smith, previous NEPIC board director and former site director at SABIC, now chairperson of the Tees Valley Industrial Net Zero Leadership Group about his inspiring career:

So, Daren, how did you end up choosing the apprenticeship route at the start of your career?:

“I left school at 16 with only a handful of O Levels and no real idea of what I wanted to do with my life. In desperation, and with little other ideas, I decided to go to Darlington Technical College to study engineering. By the end of the first year, I was completely fed up with being in a classroom, having no money and still little understanding of why I was doing the course. I just was not enjoying my time and my grades reflected this, in fact I barely scraped through that first year.

“Over the course of the summer recess I knew I needed to do something different and as fortune would have it I saw a local advertisement for a youth training scheme at Cummins Diesel Engines. This was a one-year basic engineering skills course that offered the opportunity for a successful few to remain with Cummins and undertake a full ECITB accredited craft apprenticeship. Apprenticeships were few and far between in the early eighties, so I knew there would be strong competition for these places, but I took the chance and applied anyway and later that month I found out I’d got a place!”

And how was the change going from a classroom to a workplace environment?:

“Working in the training centre at Cummins was a dramatic change from the classroom environment. I swapped pen, paper and a calculator for overalls, workbenches, welding booths and turning and milling machines. I quickly learnt what it meant to have to clock on, be punctual and to complete tasks accurately and to time. In all it gave me structure, purpose and taught me work discipline. As well as all this, I was enjoying myself and learning what I felt were valuable skills.

“The training team I worked with were always on hand to explain and demonstrate the tasks set during that first year, it was an incredibly valuable support network. Being so focused in the training centre for that first year allowed me to develop at pace compared to being in the classroom, I was learning because I was interested to learn, not because I was being told to learn.

“In addition, I was doing really well in my day release college course, so the classroom theory also improved. It helped that some of work I was doing in the training centre could be directly applied at college. I remember heat treating a piece of steel one week and then learning about the change of metal structure through heat treatment in college, this was a real turning point for me, being able to join together theory and practice.”

Were there many progression opportunities during your time as an apprentice?:

“Immediately I started seeing progression through the scheme. I was fortunate to be one of the few to be taken on by Cummins at the end of the youth training scheme and I commenced a full ECITB indentured apprenticeship with Cummins.

“At the end of my second year at Cummins and having passed both my ONC and HNC qualifications I was asked if I wanted to do a fully sponsored, full-time degree at Teesside University, known as Teesside Polytechnic at the time. On reflection this was a further critical moment in my career and an opportunity that I seized and committed fully to. I studied long and hard, enjoying the challenge and now being able to see the linkage between theory and practice I thrived in the classroom environment.

“Time passed and at 23 years of age I left Teesside Polytechnic with a First-Class Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering. Something that seemed unimaginable from leaving school with barely any qualifications and no idea what I wanted to do as a career. It really highlights the pathways for progression that apprenticeships can set you on.”

And what successes did you go on to have following your time as apprentice?:

“The apprenticeship opened doors for me. At 23 I went to work for Foster Wheeler Energy as a machinery engineer on their graduate programme and travelled the world with them. I worked on almost every ICI plant in the North East, went to Thailand, USA and Scandinavia working on large production plants across the globe.

“I eventually returned home to Teesside taking a job at Huntsman, working on the Olefins 6 plant, progressing through senior roles there until I eventually became site director, where I ran the site for six years. Without my apprenticeship I believe I would have never gained those skills I needed for each of my roles, not just the technical skills, but also the transferrable skills you gain too.”

Why do you think apprenticeships are important career pathways?

“They offer an alternative to those who aren’t ready to commit to full-time further education, everyone’s learning rates are different, the apprenticeship pathway provides a supportive environment to learn practically while gaining good qualifications via day release.

“There seems to be a stigma associated with apprenticeships that they are somehow less important than full-time further education. I disagree with this thinking completely. Students who have vocational and technical skills should definitely consider the apprenticeship route. To my mind and from my experience, you really can build a successful career from it and potentially receive the opportunity to complete a sponsored degree along the way.

“The North East industry landscape is changing, with new innovation emerging constantly and the shift to decarbonise our existing industry. Our local colleges have massively adapted to this since I undertook my apprenticeship. The principles – using engineer’s blue, marking out, filing for example – remain the same, but the training facilities, the environment and the delivered training is being taught at a much higher level.

“It’s a testament to our local colleges and the high-quality students they are producing, there’s never been a more exciting time for a young person to take up an apprenticeship, especially with the apprenticeships available now in renewables and clean energy, which will ultimately equip young people with the skills needed to meet the demands of Teesside’s growing renewable and low carbon sector.”