“Eventful, educating and motivating” is how one of our outstanding apprentices has described her experience with White Label, as we head into National Apprenticeship Week 2023.

Running from 6 to 12 February, with the theme “skills for life,” National Apprenticeship Week is an opportunity to celebrate the fantastic contributions apprentices make to businesses across the UK and right here at White Label, where supporting people in their career ambitions, now and into the future, is integral to our ethos.

Currently, we have two apprentices Chloe Young and Excel Epelle.

White Label Associate Director, Julie Leggatt, said: “We know how important apprenticeships are, both to our company and to the career development of those taking part, and offering these opportunities is a big part of our ethos.

“Our apprentices are a great asset to White Label. They are enthusiastic, hard-working, enhance our productivity and enable us to approach our business strategy with fresh eyes.

“It’s important to be able to give people the opportunity to gain experience whilst learning within a role, and we want to make sure they grow within the company.

“I think it’s difficult securing your first job role when starting out and apprenticeships really help with that by giving people the confidence they need when beginning, or changing, their careers.” 

Chloe started with White Label in October 2021 and is now working on the Level 4 Marketing Executive programme which is equivalent to the first year of an undergraduate degree. She decided to take on the high-level apprenticeship to keep up-to-date with the latest trends and marketing knowledge which is all incorporated into White Label’s work.

Her busy day-to-day tasks include planning, looking at strategies, and delivering marketing activities for a range of internal and client projects. Chloe also drafts and schedules social media content, e-marketing content and develops and delivers a range of paid advertising including digital and out of home. She also produces and analyses reports to enable company growth and better future decisions.

Chloe said: “I really enjoy the faced-paced nature of the role – it certainly keeps you on your toes but everyday really is a learning day so when you see positive outcomes it really does pay off. I’m looking forward to continuing my development and having a great future at White Label.”

Excel has been at White Label for 11 months and is working on a Business Administration Apprenticeship and chose this career pathway for reasons including on-the-job experience, a salary and the chance to gain both personal and work-related skills.

She said: “It is an opportunity to learn and gain work experience at the same time, and I can immediately put what I have learnt to use. Learning and growth for a specific career path is faster in a work environment because I work with experienced team members who are willing to provide support on tasks I might not have enough knowledge on. Also, you earn while learning.

“I have experienced growth in confidence, I have learnt how to quickly adapt to the changing business environment, develop my skillset, improve on weaknesses and build further on my strengths. The apprenticeship has also given me the opportunity to meet with people from different career fields and walks of life.”

Excel’s successes have included procuring a large and varied number of traders for the Croydon Food and Music Festival, and ensuring they were certified for trading on the day.

“It was very fulfilling seeing everything come to life on the day of the festival,” she said. “The festival drew about 14,000 visitors throughout the day and we received great feedback on the festival.”

Excel also rose to the task last autumn when following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a number of events were rearranged and delivered at close intervals.

Excel said: “I was able to give support across the Last Mile Conference, BIG South London Growth Summit, Croydon Awards and Develop Croydon Conference simultaneously. This really challenged me to effectively manage my time and find better and faster ways to perform my role in these projects to be able to deliver on each one. I have learnt greatly the importance of keeping calm under pressure and will continue to apply all I learnt during that time to future projects.”

“Eventful, Educating and Motivating” are the three adjectives Excel would use to best describe her apprenticeship experience and her goals for the future are “to complete my apprenticeship course, acquire my certificate, get a full-time job role and continue my upwards journey in the world of business by developing myself further and continuing to learn”.

For anyone considering an apprenticeship, Excel’s advice is to “go for it” but “do not pick just any apprenticeship course or job role in a hurry. Pick one in a sector you can see yourself working in for a long time and that aligns with your career path.”

She added: “You will discover new things about your chosen career field and learn things outside basic classroom knowledge, you will also have the opportunity to make connections with valuable personnel in your chosen field.”