Derby College student secures second prestigious award
Derby College Group student Joe Johnson has been presented with the prestigious ‘Apprentice of the Year’ award at this year’s Building Communities Awards. This is the second time Joe has received this accolade, after previously winning ‘Intermediate/Advanced Apprentice of the Year’ in the Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Apprenticeship Awards in October last year.
The Building Communities Awards is hosted by Efficiency East Midlands, to recognise and celebrate professionalism, excellence and innovation within the housing and construction community. Joe was presented with his award at a ceremony held in Leicester earlier this month.
Joe was nominated for the award by Sophie Bancroft, Employee Development and Corporate Support Manager at Derby Homes. Joe joined Derby Homes as an Apprentice Electrician in 2018 and began studying for his Level 3 Electrical Installations Apprenticeship with Derby College, where he learnt how to install, maintain, and repair electrical systems. He has now successfully completed his qualification, achieving an incredible 100% pass rate in all modules in his end point assessment!
Commenting on his success Joe said “After winning the first award last year, I didn’t think that I would win again, even more so at a bigger event. To win two awards for Apprentice of the Year is an amazing achievement and something that I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Peter Armes, Electrical Assessor at Derby College said “Joe is an exemplary student. He’s extremely dedicated and hardworking, and always puts 100% effort into his training at college. He is an intelligent young man and his consistently high pass rate is outstanding. What he has achieved is fantastic and very rare. All the team at Derby College are very proud of him – well done Joe!”
Sophie Bancroft, Employee Development and Corporate Support Manager at Derby Homes said “I am immensely proud of Joe, he takes it all in his stride. I think he has got used to me nominating him now and I really hope this inspires future apprentices at Derby Homes and what they can achieve. We are over the moon for Joe and this is a great success story for Derby Homes too.”
In September 2022, Joe secured a permanent electrician role at Derby Homes. Since starting his new role he now has an apprentice electrician working with him on a day-to-day basis. He’s also been nominated for the high-profile Housing Heroes Awards and will find out later this year if he’s been shortlisted.
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