APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by Think Kudos
THINK
Kudos
FINALIST
Matthew McConnell , from sponsors Think Kudos , presents the Apprentice of the Year award to Digital Edge ’ s Ellie Shooter .
AWARDS NIGHT ‘ INCREDIBLE ’ SAYS APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR ELLIE
Aycliffe ’ s Apprentice of the Year has hailed the return of the Make Your Mark Awards as “ incredible ”.
Ellie Shooter , from Digital Edge on the business park , won the Apprentice category at the 2022 Make Your Mark Awards .
Ellie originally joined Digital Edge on a work placement while at college in 2021 .
Directors Ian Proctor and Graham Marsh quickly realised she was an outstanding and self-motivated young person who could be left to get on with work and deliver the highest quality for their customers .
Ellie has grown the social media accounts she has worked on three-fold since starting and Digital Edge ’ s clients are delighted with her work .
She is proactive and pushes all the time to deliver the best online content that results in increased revenues for her clients .
Her exceptional social media marketing skills also extend to Facebook Live and podcast-style productions – and Ellie has shown herself to be a natural talent when it comes to presenting them .
Ellie pipped Stiller ’ s Connor Bland to the award win , and said : “ Being able to be here and speak to so many different people and know so many businesses , it ’ s just been incredible – better than I could ever have imagined .”
Asked about her colleagues and bosses at Digital Edge , Ellie added : “ It ’ s an amazing team and I dedicate this to all of them .
“ I didn ’ t go to uni . I wanted to get myself out there and that ’ s exactly what I did . I work in an amazing industry at an amazing business park .
“ I have been pushed every single day of my work and I ’ ve risen to every single challenge that ’ s been thrown at me . It ’ s made me who I am today and I feel like that ’ s been appreciated , which is amazing .
“ Just being able to go into some of the biggest businesses around here , sit down with the company director and they listen to me – that is incredible .
“ I ’ ve been received in a professional manner . It ’ s amazing that although I ’ m young and an apprentice , people take me seriously .”
The Apprentice of the Year category was sponsored by Think Kudos , based on the business park .
Partner Matthew McConnell said : “ It was a pleasure to be invited to present the Apprentice of the Year award to Ellie from Digital Edge , and commiserations to Connor Bland from Stiller who was an outstanding finalist for the award .
“ Our firm has been built around apprenticeships , so it made complete sense for us to sponsor that category .
“ It was fantastic to see the awards return and the night itself was a fantastic celebration of our business park .”
Connor Bland ( Stiller Warehousing & Distribution )
Connor joined Stiller Warehousing and Distribution in September 2021 as an accounts apprentice and to study for a level 3 NVQ in business administration , just two weeks after his 16th birthday .
Connor ’ s main ambition had always been to become an accountant , and he decided an apprenticeship within an accounts department was the best route . He has demonstrated from the start that he has good organisational skills and works in a clear and methodical manner . He is able to prioritise his own work and has really helped the team achieve deadlines .
Connor shows good attention to detail and works accurately and precisely . He is also gaining more confidence with using his initiative , working out solutions for himself and questioning when something doesn ’ t look right .
He has developed greatly within his role in the six months he has been at Stiller and he has proved to be a really good addition to the team .
24 | Aycliffe Business