Kirk White

Getting hands-on experience across many different aspects of engineering, I completed a 5-year maintenance engineering course at Sheffield College. I loved the hands-on experience it offered, learning on the job from three experienced Gripple engineers.

More than 25 years later, I’ve been fortunate to manage and lead some incredible engineering teams, including a 12-month stint in Chicago, helping to implement some of our first production processes in the US. Now, as Assembly Site Engineering Manager, I manage a fantastic team of 12 engineers across two sites and have been tasked with implementing a number of improvement projects to drive efficiency. Being at Gripple from a young age, I've seen us grow massively. Above all else, I've learned to communicate and to engage with my team to get the best out of them.

Still, to this day, the skills I learnt in my apprenticeship have proven invaluable, both as an engineer and a leader. My advice to current and future apprentices is to go for it. The Gripple apprenticeship scheme has come on leaps and bounds since my day. We aim to shape our apprentices, not just into great engineers and future business leaders, but also great people, and that goes to the heart of the Gripple Spirit.

If you're considering an apprenticeship at Gripple, I couldn't recommend it enough.