Jordan Fairlamb was named Apprentice of the Year Scotland at the Scottish Apprenticeship Awards on November 7 at a ceremony in Dundee.
Jordan is a supply chain management modern apprentice with Dawnfresh Seafoods Ltd and is now working towards a Graduate Apprenticeship, having started a Graduate Apprenticeship in Business Management at Strathclyde Business School in September.
Graduate Apprentices spend most of their time at work but with time also at university working towards a degree qualification.
At work Jordan is responsible for the day to day ordering of salmon for the Bothwell Industrial Park business and managing stock worth £1.8 million. As an apprentice, he also identified an issue with packaging which resulted in a £60,000 cost saving for the seafood firm.
Of his work and study commitments, Jordan said, "I manage my work at Dawnfresh and my studies at Strathclyde University by prioritising my own work first, then any free time I have I put towards my studies and I study at nights and weekends to ensure coursework is completed. I do have the option to communicate with my line manager if I need time off to study but I haven’t taken that offer up - yet!.
"I find the course genuinely interesting and feel like everything I learn I can apply to further my understanding of the workplace and improve the quality of my work. Through doing a Graduate Apprenticeship I will learn useful theory and further develop my career by gaining a degree."
The BA (Hons) in Business Management degree is a bespoke four-year Graduate Apprenticeship programme which develops apprentices’ knowledge, skills, competencies and professional behaviours. The degree is designed in partnership with employers in different industry sectors and to meet the criteria for Chartered Management Institute (CMI). The on-campus delivery allows apprentices to work in groups and hone their business skills with support from experienced academics.
A full list of winners is published on the Scottish Apprenticeship Awards page. You can find out more about the Business Management Graduate Apprenticeship here. The Graduate Apprenticeship programmes at Strathclyde are funded by SDS and supported by the European Social Fund.