Time to meet the real apprentices

1:49pm Friday 15th June 2007

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As former public schoolboy Simon Ambrose prepares to "work his cotton socks off" for Sir Alan Sugar, STEPHEN LEWIS talks to some real-life apprentices in York. Meanwhile, Charlotte Percival catches up with Simon's North Yorkshire rival, Kristina Grimes.

SIR ALAN Sugar would like Chris Colbeck. He may not just have offered the 17-year-old apprentice electrician a £100,000-a-year job.

But if he ever met him, chances are he'd recognise in Chris some of the qualities that made him say: "You're hired!" to Simon Ambrose.

Like Simon, Chris is articulate, well-spoken and ambitious. And like Simon, he is willing to learn.

The 17-year-old can see some of the parallels with Simon himself. "Simon is the unfinished article," Chris, who is halfway through a four-year apprenticeship at Portakabin in York, says. "And that's how I see myself."

A big fan of the TV show, Chris believes Sir Alan was right to choose Simon over fellow finalist Kristina Grimes.

He liked Kristina - especially the way she got one over on Katie by refusing to stoop to her level - but felt she was too much the finished product for Sir Alan.

What would be the point of calling the show The Apprentice if an apprentice wasn't what Sir Alan was looking for?

As a Portakabin apprentice, Chris earns about £8,000 a year. Not £100,000 then? "Maybe one day!" he says.

But while it may not pay as well, in its way, a Portakabin apprenticeship is almost as much sought-after as a place on the TV show.

The company recently advertised for five apprentices in The Press - joiners, electricians and plumbers - and already there have been 362 applicants for the posts.

"That's to date!" says Portakabin human resources manager Phil Marsland.

Chris's favourite character on The Apprentice was Tre. "He seemed always to have lots of good ideas, and he was a good laugh and a good character," Chris says. He was also ambitious, a trait Chris shares.

His ultimate ambition, after finishing his apprenticeship, is to go into business for himself. "I'd like to own my own electricians' company," he says.

"It would be nice to have my own business, be my own boss."

He glances around him at the inside of the modular children's nursery room he's working on. "But this is the perfect training."

As an apprentice, Chris spends one day a week and the occasional block course at York College.

The rest of the time he spends working alongside experienced electricians at the Portakabin factory off New Lane, in Huntington, York.

In his two years with the company, he has worked on everything from schools and offices to hospitals and mini-supermarkets - all modular, all assembled here in York before being shipped out across the country.

He much prefers hands-on learning to being stuck in a classroom, Chris, from Market Weighton, says.

"Most of my friends are now going on to university. My sister is at university at the moment. But I see lots of people going to university and not getting a really good job at the end of it," he says.

Instead of earning £8,000 a year while they learn, they leave university with huge debts, he points out.

But the clincher is that he simply doesn't like being stuck in a classroom. "I have always preferred learning by working."

Most of his workmates are quite a bit older than him: the youngest are in their 20s and even 30s.

But he likes that. They supervise his work, and show him how to do things better. "If it was somebody about your own age trying to do that, you wouldn't listen the same."

Like Chris, David Taylor is another real-life apprentice who prefers learning the hands-on way to sitting in a classroom.

The 19-year-old is getting towards the end of his four-year apprenticeship as a joiner at Portakabin - following in his father's footsteps before him When we arrive, he is working on a desk top that will eventually form part of a nurses' station in a hospital.

He is lovingly rounding off the edges of the desk with a cabinet scraper, before sanding them smooth.

"I'm trying to get a smooth edge," he says, looking up from his work.

Like Chris, he enjoys his job. "I like using my hands," he says. "And I get real satisfaction out of finishing something.

"If you've done a good job, you feel pleased."

And, like Chris, he believes he has learned a huge amount from his four-year apprenticeship.

All his work at Portakabin is monitored and supervised by experienced joiners.

"They give you ideas of how to do things," he says. "They show you three or four different ways that people use.

"They are always willing to help me, making sure I'm okay, making sure I'm safe. They're a good bunch of lads."

With his apprenticeship nearly up, David hopes to continue working at Portakabin while attending York College one day a week to upgrade his qualifications, before possibly going on to university.

So will he be invited to stay on? Will it be a case of "David: you're hired?" or "David: you're fired?" when his four years as an apprentice come to an end?

Portakabin production manager Steve Overton grins.

"If he's here now, he's going to be here in the future," he says.

In other words, David has proved the hard way, through four years of doing the job, that he's got what it takes.

Boosting work skills

Human resources bosses at Portakabin may not be quite as fierce as Sir Alan Sugar.

But they are looking for the same qualities in their apprentices as the business tycoon.

And these qualities are?

A certain aptitude for their chosen profession, says HR manager Phil Marsland, plus a good attitude, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn.

Enthusiasm is one of the keys, adds production manager Steve Overton. "It is a long process, being an apprentice," he says. "Three to four years. So they need lots of enthusiasm."

Portakabin prides itself on the apprentices it trains. At the moment, the company has 13 in training, and five more posts have recently been advertised.

It has been training apprentices - electricians, plumbers, joiners and the like - for all of the 31 years Steve has worked there.

Not all of them go on to work full-time at Portakabin - though of the 200 tradesmen working at the York site, 50 came through the company's apprenticeships, Steve says.

Those that don't stay with the company go on to work with other local firms - or set up in business for themselves.

There has been a lot in the national and trade press about the falling number of opportunities for apprentices, says Phil Marsland.

So Portakabin is proud of its role in training future plumbers, electricians and joiners to add to the skills pool locally.

Life after Sir Alan

SHE may have missed out on a six-figure job, but North Yorkshire Apprentice star Kristina Grimes is still determined to get to the top.

The 36-year-old single mother, from Harrogate, said in a radio interview that she should have won the BBC show.

She also told the presenter she needed "lots of big hugs".

"Obviously, I'm really really gutted, because I really did want the accolade as well as the job and to me I sort of stood out. To me I outperformed Simon," she said. "The only thing I can think of, is when you think of the word apprentice it's somebody young, somebody that's started their career, and you know I've got about nine years on Simon's, so maybe that's the reason."

Kristina, whose level-headedness and strong leadership skills made her the hot favourite to win, said Sir Alan Sugar had named her and Simon as the two best contestants he had ever had on the programme.

Choosing between them had been a very difficult decision, she believes. "He was lovely to me," she added. "He gave me some lovely feedback, so you know I can't walk out of this without my head held high.

"But the other side of the coin is I put my heart into this, and therefore it does hurt not to win."

She called her rival "loveable", but young and lacking confidence.

"He is quite shrewd; I think he does play the clown a little bit, when you know he knows that will give him an advantage and make people feel more comfortable about him, and then he goes in for the kill later on," she said.

Although she is still in talks with Sir Alan about her career, she has not ruled out returning to the pharmaceutical industry.

"There's lots out there, and I think there will be lots of people who want to headhunt me.

"The next move I want to make has got to be the right move, that will bring me all the way up to the top of the ladder," she said.

Whatever the future holds, she won't forget about Harrogate.

"I love Harrogate. Even though I'm down here (London) I'm up in Harrogate every weekend - you couldn't keep me away from the place to be honest."

So who is Kristina Grimes?

* Kristina Grimes, 36

* On herself: "Extremely competitive, ambitious, determined, but really loves life."

* Pre-Apprentice job: Pharmaceutical sales manager.

* Background: Kristina fell pregnant at the age of 17 while she was living in rural Ireland. She was packed off to a convent to have her baby, but refused to give the child up. Moving to England, she raised her son Graeme alone, put herself through university, and worked her way up the career ladder.

* Apprentice highlights: Exposing Katie and Paul's "personal relationship" to Sir Alan in the boardroom. Offering to come back and sell the rug-in-a-box herself to a stunned carpet dealer.

* Lowlights: Leading the way with the girls' kiss-o-grams. Cooking the sausages and putting them back into the raw meat packet to serve to potential customers.

* Margaret's verdict: "She's a hard worker and is responsible, but whether she's got creative spark, I'm not sure."

* Nick's verdict: "Driven, has a very good sales technique and track record. I'd describe her as lacking charm... a doer rather than a thinker."

* Will be remembered for: Her rivalry with Katie, who called her "too orange", "a snake" and accused her of having "no integrity". In contrast, Kristina never resorted to "bitching" about Katie.