THE water company that serves Devon is celebrating its apprentices.

South West Water (SWW) is celebrating the range of apprentices across its teams as part of National Apprenticeship Week.

Pennon, SWW’s parent company, was recently awarded Platinum membership of ‘The 5% Club’ in recognition of its commitment to supporting apprentices and graduates - the only business in the UK water sector to achieve this.

Sharon Gathercole, Pennon’s People & Culture Director, said: ‘We are pleased to be an inclusive place to work that provides fantastic opportunities for those just starting their careers to get their foot in the door.

‘Bringing in new people with fresh ideas through apprenticeships and graduate programs, we want to see those of all ages and backgrounds join our business - helping us continue to be a forward-thinking and diverse organisation.’

Jo Gent, who is now Natural Resources Assistant Project Manager for South West Water, was one of the company’s apprenticeships.

Through her apprenticeship, Jo not only gained a huge amount of knowledge from the Operations Management course, but also has practical experience applying this knowledge in the workplace.

‘This has been a massive boost to my confidence and encouraged me to take on more responsibilities than I would have done otherwise’ Jo said.

In between jobs and uncertain what direction to go in, Matthew Sluman is now an Apprentice Engineering Technician at South West Water.

Matthew Sluman
Matthew Sluman (South West Water)

Matthew, 31, said: ‘There is no such thing as too old to start again and every day is a school day so why not start an apprenticeship and get paid while you learn lots of new life skills.’

And lastly, the company’s Saffron Herbert.

Now an Internal Auditor for the group, Saffron chose an apprenticeship to gain hands-on experience in finance.

‘There really is something for everybody in the water sector, there are so many roles I would never have known existed prior to my apprenticeship’ Saffron said.

Saffron Herbert
Saffron Herbert (South West Water)