To coincide with National Apprenticeship Week (10-16 February), home care specialist Alcedo Care is celebrating the achievements of Southport’s Harry Marlow.
Despite receiving several offers from both Liverpool John Moores and Edge Hill universities, Harry, aged 20, chose to join Alcedo Care as an apprentice in the IT department. He was determined to gain practical skills in IT, rather than just follow an exclusively academic route at university. Plus, he was keen to earn money, not accrue debt, and benefit from the invaluable experience of being in a workplace five days a week.
Having achieved a triple distinction in Computing BTEC at Southport College, Harry has been able to put the theory he learnt into practice in his role as IT Service Desk Analyst. With approximately six months remaining on his apprenticeship, Harry is looking forward to gaining the Microsoft Azure Cloud Support Specialist qualification (Level 3) on completion.
He then hopes to secure a permanent job, so that he can continue to learn, enhancing his knowledge, gain a plethora of skills that will further his future career as well as interact with colleague and clients.
With National Apprenticeship Week a celebration that brings together businesses and apprentices across the country to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make, Harry says: “I have loved my time at Alcedo Care so far. I am absorbing so much information and taking in so much from every department within the business. Not only is the apprenticeship helping with the development of my IT and computing, plus general business knowledge, but it is also giving me ‘real life’ experiences in the workplace, which is such a great learning curve.”
A local lad, Harry was aware of Alcedo Care’s exceptional reputation and felt that the company would be an important one to work for, especially with today’s aging population. Plus, his grandmother required carers when ill, so he understands first hand the value carers have with clients and their families, plus the local community.
Harry adds: “I wanted to work for a company that I can be proud of, and Alcedo Care is the perfect fit. The apprenticeship is not easy. It consists of four modules, each with three tasks, as well as live teams calls and essays, so it’s quite demanding. Plus, the 9-5 working week took some adjusting to compared to my time schedule at Southport College!
“The most enjoyable thing about Alcedo Care is the people; they really are the lifeblood of the company, they make it a great place to work and I have enjoyed learning what each department actually does and how it all fits together like a jigsaw. The company truly values its employees, and makes a huge effort regularly to show their appreciation, from buying lunch every Friday to allowing staff bring dogs to work. These touches are amazing to see, and I know the team appreciate them.
“If I was to sum up my apprenticeship at Alcedo Care, I would say educational on so many levels and a fantastic experience.”
Ethan Hendry, Head of IT at Alcedo Care, concludes: “Harry’s apprenticeship has been hugely successful, both for him and Alcedo Care. He has brought a fresh viewpoint to the IT department, along with theories that he learnt at college. With several months remaining, and his final pieces of work to complete, we will continue to nurture and guide Harry, and prepare him fully for more responsibility and challenging tasks in the future.”
Away from work, Harry is a massive Sci-fi fan, particularly Dr Who and Star Trek, he loves lots of different kinds of music from rock to classical, and with quite a logical personality, enjoys board games and puzzles like chess and the Rubik’s cube, as well as word games, such as Wordle. After visiting Copenhagen last year, he is also very keen to travel more in the years to come.
