Apprenticeship week

Here at boatfolk we’re passionate about welcoming people into the world of boating. Whether it’s those who want to explore a new hobby, or someone who’s keen to take their first steps into a career within the marine sector.

As part of apprenticeship week, we spoke to Callum Spencer an apprentice at Conwy Marina in North Wales. He shares his thoughts on doing an apprenticeship with boatfolk:

About Callum’s apprenticeship
Callum is undertaking a Level 2 apprenticeship in Marine Construction, Systems Engineering and Maintenance with LLandrillo College.  He started his apprenticeship in September 2020 as part of a three-year course.

When asked about why he chose this apprenticeship Callum told us:
“I was inspired by my fathers’ side of the family who have worked on, and have a strong affiliation with the sea, I wanted to follow in their footsteps”   

As an apprentice at Conwy Marina Callum works closely with the Conwy boatcare team and has this to say about whether it’s matching up with his expectations of being an apprenticeship at boatfolk:
“It is exactly as I expected, very varied. I could be anti-fouling, hull polishing, operating the forklift, washing a hull, doing some maintenance, towing a boat, catching lines, serving fuel. This list is endless”

Speaking to Callum it was clear that learning new things and broadening his knowledge and experience of boats was one of his favourite parts of his apprenticeship so far, and he looks forwards to using his skills to progress into full time employment. When asked whether he would recommend an apprenticeship with boatfolk his answer was:
“Definitely – Particularly for apprentices looking to progress marine based courses”  

Just as Callum is happy with his experience of being a boatfolk apprentice so far, he’s proven to be an immensely valuable member of the team.

“We are delighted to welcome Callum to the team and who also has the honour of being the first ever apprentice at Conwy marina. Callum has always showed a great attitude and willingness to learn, and we are proud to be spear heading the next generation of marine employees and wish Callum every success in the future”  
Jon Roberts – Marina Manager at Conwy Marina

Want to know more about careers at boatfolk?
Whether you’re early on in your career or you’ve got plenty of experience under your belt you can check out the careers section of our website here.   For even more insight into a career with boatfolk you can catch up on one of our recent podcast episodes where we speak with Jordan Paulet about his journey from marina assistant at East Cowes Marina, to senior berthing master at Haslar Marina. Listen to the episode here.