Chloe joined Aptus on a business administration apprenticeship through Horwich based Alliance Learning in 2016. She was placed within the operations administration team and was responsible for ordering plant, equipment and other materials for site, along with other duties.
During National Apprenticeship Week we caught up with Chloe to find out what has happened since she completed her apprenticeship and how it helped pave the way to a career in gas engineering.
After completing my apprenticeship in 2017, and with new family responsibilities to consider after returning from maternity leave, I found myself re-evaluating my position and what I wanted to achieve career wise. I decided to focus on developing my career by moving into a new role, which Aptus was happy to support.
Soon after my return a Gas Administration Assistant job came up, I applied and was successful! This allowed me to develop my administrative experience and gain technical knowledge in the gas department. I advanced to Gas Administration Supervisor in May 2022.
My role supports the gas department which includes overseeing the work carried out by the gas admin team and assisting the gas engineers on site.
The work of the gas admin team revolves around three core responsibilities which we routinely rotate to ensure we are all skilled and knowledgeable in all areas.
These duties entail: programming the gas connections across all regions; supplying the Routine Operations – which are method statements we write and send to our gas engineers and teams on site; and ensuring that paperwork upon job completion is correct before issuing it to the relevant network.
As Supervisor I have gained a great deal of technical knowledge and on-the-job experience which has been supported by gaining further qualifications including GAS SHEA, which is training that covers safety, health and environmental awareness. I also have SCO accreditations, which stands for Safe Control of Operations. These ensure I have the required level of safety knowledge and understanding of gas network procedures and permits, which is essential for completing paperwork to the authorised standards.
I love working with my team and supporting people to learn. We are very close, work well together and support each other – we’re a gas family!
The apprenticeship helped me to identify my career path by giving me the opportunity to learn all about the utility industry and giving me the chance to work within the gas team and learn more technical skills within the business.
The Gas team will be required to grow as Aptus expands its operations, which means I will have more responsibility if new staff join. The company is very proactive in ensuring we are all equipped to deal with the challenges created by growth and I’m booked onto a leadership and management course in March with Alliance Learning, which I’m looking forward to.
