38 young men and women are the latest graduates of John Deere’s Ag Tech, Turf Tech and Parts Tech advanced apprenticeship programmes.
The group passed the national scheme and its achievements have been recognised at an event held at the Crowne Plaza in Nottingham.
Ag/Turf Tech Apprentice of the Year was awarded to James Skipper from Beeston, Norfolk, and the Parts Tech award went to Madeleine Green.
The runner-up prizes were awarded to Ciahran Quick and Henry Atkins.
John Deere’s apprentices
Commenting on the graduates, John Deere branch training manager Allan Cochran said:
“To see these fantastic individuals graduating from their courses and taking the next big step in their careers in incredibly rewarding.
Helping to give these young people their first step on the career ladder builds a strong foundation for their future success.
“Our apprenticeship programme has been running for nearly three decades and was created because we saw the trend of fewer people coming into the industry.
“We aim to nurture and mould these enthusiastic apprentices who have the skills and desire to work in our business and across the industry.”
John Deere’s apprenticeships involve students being trained in engineering; electronics; hydraulics; diagnostics; communication skills; computing; sales; and marketing.
Ag Tech and Turf Tech candidates study towards the land-based service engineering technician (level 3) qualification, while in Parts Tech individuals complete a Retailer Apprenticeship Standard (level 2).
New students are enrolled each year; apprentices need to be resident in the UK, employed by a John Deere dealer and over the age of 16.
Since the programme first started in 1992, almost 1,000 apprentices have graduated through the three main schemes and are now working in the company’s nationwide dealer network.
The next intake is already being enrolled, with 61 Ag Tech and Turf Tech technicians so far signed up for their three-year course, in addition to six Parts Tech apprentices who study for two years.
