David Roberts, MOET Level 3 - Maintenance & Operations Engineering Technician Level 3 - Tate & Lyle Sugars

David left secondary school with no GCSEs and enrolled into college studying childcare to become a nursey nurse. He struggled academically due to his learning difficulties as a teenager and did not complete his studies. Shortly after, David secured a job at the Thames Refinery as a cleaning contractor. He was exposed to the inner workings of the factory, cleaning the sugar storage silos, filters and other equipment within the refinery.

Enjoying his time at the factory, he secured a full-time role with Tate & Lyle Sugars as an Operator Maintainer working on a sugar packing line operating new state of the art packaging machinery. Before long, he became a team leader in this production area. His skills and ability to support others were recognised and he was seconded to our new factory in Germany, training the workforce there to operate the new sticks & sachets packing machinery.

David decided that the way forward for him was to learn these new skills through an engineering apprenticeship and took to his training with real enthusiasm. Despite his learning difficulties and academic challenges earlier in his life, he earned a distinction in his apprenticeship. David is studying Maintenance & Operations Engineering Technician Level 3 and NVQ Diploma in Engineering Maintenance Level 3.

David Said:

“If you were to ask me 15 years ago if I could imagine I would be in the position that I am in now - a college dropout and now an engineer in training doing A-levels and more – I’d say you were mad. But I’ve learnt that it’s never too late. I’m really proud of what I have achieved for myself through my apprenticeship and hope I’m a great example to other young people I work with who maybe are looking for another chance and to progress and learn.”

David’s determination and resilience has inspired other employees to seek the same development and growth. Without people like him, showing colleagues what is possible through an apprenticeship, it would not be possible to get anywhere near the 6% to 7% rate of apprenticeships that are amongst the workforce.