Dean Grainger
Although Dean’s dad was a mechanic, working on barges on local waterways, Dean didn’t set out to train in motor vehicle maintenance. He had left school with some good GCSEs but wasn’t sure what to do next. Then he saw an advert in the local paper for apprentices in different skill areas with Wakefield Council.

He applied for an apprenticeship in heavy goods vehicle maintenance and was accepted to work at the council’s depot at Newton Bar. Wakefield Council has their own training department, but he also studied at the Wakefield College on a day-release basis.

Dean really took to his work and impressed his employers with his skill and dedication to his job, so much so that he won the council’s apprentice of the year award in each of the first three years of his training. In 2003 he was put forward for a national award for local council apprentices run by APSE (Association of Public Service Excellence).

“I had to go to Stoke on Trent for the final with 3 others. They wanted to see a my portfolio of work and then we were interviewed. To my surprise I was chosen as the winner. I won a trophy which I can keep, a cup, which is mine for a year, and £100.”

The apprenticeship in heavy goods vehicle maintenance normally takes 4 years but Dean had completed the academic part of his work in 3 years and so decided to continue his studies at higher level. He chose an HNC in Automobile Management at Leeds College of Technology, which he recently completed.