Our apprentices shine at their 2023 rising stars graduation

Six of our apprentices made Bayer proud as they graduated at the West Berkshire Training Consortium Rising Stars celebration at Arlington Arts this week.

As part of our Future Talent program, we have taken on many apprentices year on year, offering accessible and rewarding opportunities at Bayer. Apprenticeships allow people beginning their career the chance to learn as they earn, gain experience in the business while working towards a recognised qualification. Our apprentices have shown not only the difference they can make to our business, but the enormous impact apprenticeships can have in shaping the development and career paths of our people. The qualifications our apprentices have completed span 12-18months where they work hard studying, writing assignments, taking exams and building a portfolio, all alongside carrying out their job roles and contributing to the business.

Yesterday we were able to celebrate 6 of our apprentices as they graduated and earned their well-deserved qualifications. Our apprentices graduated with the following:

Cormac Wooller - Level 3 Business Administration
Georgia McDougall - Level 3 Business Administration and Level 3 Digital Marketing
Holly Kellaway - Level 3 Business Administration and Level 3 Digital Marketing
Louise Evans - Level 3 Business Administration and Level 3 Digital Marketing
Matthew Gaskell - Level 3 Business Administration
Sam Dormer - Level 3 Business Administration

An important part of the WBTC graduation ceremony is the Rising Star awards, Employer of the year, Mentor of the Year and Apprentice of the Year. We had finalist in every category which is a huge achievement for Bayer. This year, we sponsored the Mentor of the Year category and were finalist for Large Employer of the Year, Mentor of the Year - Melissa Strong, Apprentice of the Year (16-18) -Matthew Gaskell and Apprentice of the Year (19+) - Louise Evans and Georgia McDougall.

The winner of the day was Georgia McDougall who won Apprentice of the Year (19+). A huge congratulations to Georgia, very well deserved. Her nomination read:

“Georgia has been an outstanding member of the E-commerce team, it is clear that Georgia takes her development and learning extremely seriously. She constantly stives to improve herself and get the most of out her time in the team.” Georgia’s team and the whole of Bayer are immensely proud, with her manager Amy Wakelam saying “Georgia has a passion & enthusiasm that is infectious and has become an integral part of the eCommerce team. Throughout her Apprenticeship she demonstrated strong learning agility, a desire to drive change and was never afraid to ask a question. This award is thoroughly deserved, I’m so happy for her.”

Anyone at Bayer who has been lucky enough to work with any of our current apprentices knows what valuable assets they are to their teams and the business as a whole. A huge congratulations to each and every one of the apprentices that graduated and all the best for the next step of your careers.