Cranleigh apprentice starts award-winning training

Jamie Wakefield, 19, from Cranleigh, conquered a fear of heights while working on scaffolding as a builder, to start a three-year training programme with Britain’s biggest electricity network operator as an overhead linesperson in Walton-on-Thames.

The former Glebelands School and Godalming College student has joined 27 new apprentices preparing for jobs that keep safe and reliable power supplies flowing to 20 million people across the East of England, London and the South East.

Jamie will train with some of the best in the business at the company’s purpose-built training facilities, where 110 craft apprentices learn specialist little-known trades as cable jointers, substation fitters and linespeople. UK Power Networks was recently named Large Employer of the Year in the Department for Education’s South East Regional Apprenticeship and Skills Awards 2024 and won Training Provision of the Year at the Energy & Utility Skills Awards 2024.

Ahead of Tomorrow's Engineers Week (11-15 November), Jamie explained why he wants to work in the electricity industry.

Jamie said: “I’ll be working on overhead electricity lines and poles. Two years ago I wasn’t brilliant with heights, but I’ve been doing building works with my uncle during the summer and got used to working at height. I was laying patios, doing brickwork and roofing.

“I used to like working with wires in science lessons and my dad works for the company as a cable jointer, so I’ve grown up around electricity, which got me interested in working for the company.

“Electricity is an industry that will never stop and with the climate issues we are facing this job will become even more important as the electricity industry has a bigger role to play.”

Charlie Aston, engineering trainee manager at UK Power Networks, said: “Our apprentices are getting ready to take on crucial roles maintaining electricity supplies in our communities, work that typically happens behind the scenes, around the clock, and regardless of the weather.

“Safety and welfare are central to our apprenticeship, and we expect high standards of ourselves and our new apprentices. We nurture and empower apprentices to realise their potential, building a foundation for skilled lifelong careers and development opportunities.”

There were 33 applications for every vacancy on the Power Networks Craftsperson (Level 3) Apprenticeships. The programme has seen a 38% Distinction rate, exceeding national retention and completion rates, with all who qualify gaining employment with the company.

The new trainees include three women in a sector where women are welcomed but underrepresented among job applications. Sixteen apprentices will train as linespeople, six as cable jointers and five as substation fitters. Theory gained at college is put into practice under supervision with mentors at their local depots and at the training centres.

The group includes school and college leavers like Jamie, who can qualify in three years, and apprentices making a career change, who complete condensed training in two years.