Giving myself a platform

I applied for the degree apprenticeship because I wanted to give myself that platform to move up in the company. I’d raised my kids, I’d worked in restaurant operations for 28 years, and I felt like it was time to do something that was just for me. I saw the degree apprenticeship as a way to open doors, build a different network, and expand the development opportunities that were open to me.

When I applied for my degree apprenticeship, I was still working in an operational management role. I had worked in operations for 28 years within a franchise. Within a few months of starting the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship, I secured a two-year secondment to a head office role as Operations Solutions Officer and started working on strategic projects across our franchises. At the end of my secondment, I successfully applied for a permanent role as a Business Growth Consultant working on national business growth projects.

Confidence and skills

I definitely feel that because I did my degree apprenticeship, it gave me the confidence to apply for my secondment and secure my permanent role. The skills I learnt in the project unit also helped me to plan, implement and review national projects. The project unit gave me the skills I needed to be able to manage large projects and understand the processes you have to go through to make a project a success.

Help and support

The University provided us with a lot of help and support. We were working and studying remotely during the pandemic, but even so, we managed to build a strong community across Teams. I worked with two skills coaches who were a lifeline and understood the challenges that we were facing. I’m not someone who reaches out for help but they were always there to check in and they really got it. The academic team were also very responsive to feedback from our cohort, particularly around assignment deadlines and ensuring they didn’t clash with busy periods as much as possible. So the support was fantastic.

In our organisation, 91% of the workforce work in franchise locations, so the workforce as a whole exists in little pockets around the UK. In that context, the degree apprenticeship is instrumental in connecting us to our peers across the organisation and gives us the opportunity to share ideas and practice. Through the degree apprenticeship, I’ve built a strong bond with my fellow apprentices and a network across the organisation which would not have been available to me otherwise.