NEWS and former apprentices about their experiences and the merits of the system. Juliet Dennis reports


Former apprentices credit training in real workplaces


Former apprentices have credited their training with providing a solid grounding in the profession and a springboard for career progression.


QHarriet Thompson, head of Hays Travel Independence Group Harriet started at the company two decades ago as a 16-year-old apprentice at the Hays Travel branch in Vine Place, Sunderland. After rising through the ranks, she landed her current position after completing Hays Travel’s nine- month Aspiring Leaders programme. “Looking back, my apprenticeship


truly set the foundation for everything that followed,” she said. “It gave me a solid understanding of the travel industry, taught me how to work with customers, to manage responsibility and to see the company from the inside out.” Harriet added: “Many of our senior


FROM TOP:


Barrhead Travel’s 2025 apprentices; the Travel Chaps team; Panache Cruises’ James Cole and son Charlie; Hays Travel apprentices; AS Training graduates


including Royal Caribbean Group and Thomas Cook. She became Barrhead managing director last year, crediting the hands-on training for providing a solid foundation for her career. “Learning in a real working environment meant I developed practical skills very quickly, and that confidence helped me take on new challenges and progress into leadership roles,” she said.


QEllie-Morgan Bailey-Mason, assistant manager, Auria Travel Ellie-Morgan joined Polka Dot Travel on an apprenticeship in 2023, only to be promoted almost immediately on completion to assistant manager. Now assistant manager at Auria


Nicki Tempest-Mitchell


leaders began their careers as apprentices, which makes them fantastic role models for the next generation.”


QNicki Tempest-Mitchell, managing director, Barrhead Travel Nicki also started in the industry at 16, on a Youth Training Scheme at Lunn Poly in Blackpool. “That early exposure to the industry gave me a real


understanding of how travel businesses operate and sparked what has become a lifelong career in travel,” she said. Nicki went on to hold various roles with companies


Travel – where she helped to open the agency’s first shop, in Ashby-de- la-Zouch – she is starting a Level 3 team leadership course to prepare for the next stage of her career. “My first apprenticeship helped me so much – and


it doesn’t hurt to learn more skills and get one step higher.”


QPaige Richardson, consultant, Butterfly Travel Paige completed an apprenticeship last October and is already into a second apprenticeship in content creation. “We’d like to do more marketing for Butterfly Travel, so


this works perfectly,” said Paige, who works on the agency’s Facebook and Instagram accounts as well as sales. She added: “Content creation will benefit my career at


Butterfly Travel and in future, as it’s a modern qualification and most industries are developing a marketing team.”


from my colleagues’ years of expertise’


put on my suit and walked in the door of Blue Bay to ask if they’d take me on.” The company was so impressed, it


worked with AS Training to set up an apprenticeship for Healy, who is due to complete a one-year travel consultant apprenticeship in just eight months. “It was hard at first, especially in the


call centre with phones going all the time, but I enjoy talking to customers and putting bookings through,” said


travelweekly.co.uk


Healy. “It’s sink or swim – and I think I’m swimming.” Holiday Lounge travel consultant


apprentice Grace Bunn described her time at the agency so far as “a learning curve and an amazing experience”, with travel to Cyprus for the company’s work conference a highlight. Kelsey Smith, operations team


manager at Gold Medal, said embarking on a Level 5 operations


management apprenticeship last year was one of her best career decisions. “It’s given me the opportunity to


apply what I learn into action,” she said. Opportunities beyond the


classroom have been the most valuable, she said, adding: “From meeting other apprentices and making new friends to experiences such as jumping off the side of a mountain on a Contiki ski fam trip, it’s opened doors I never expected.”


12 FEBRUARY 2026 11


Kelsey Smith


PICTURE: David James Wood


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