This year to mark National Apprenticeship week , two apprentices from across the group have been awarded an ‘Apprentice of the Year’ award for their amazing commitment, enthusiasm, dedication, and independence over the past year during their apprenticeships.
Congratulations go to Michael Voigt from Spokemead and Tommy Rickwood from R Dunham.
David Bullen, CEO said,
“At Kinovo, we do not underestimate the importance of Apprentices and Apprenticeships as we believe in genuine career progression and over the years we have seen many apprentices excel across the Group.”
Left to right: Michael Voigt, Electrical Apprentice at Spokemead being presented his award and Amazon voucher for £500, from Commercial Manager Liam Power.
Michael Voigt joined Spokemead in May 2021. He was introduced to Spokemead via a family friend of the Rooney’s. He is currently in year 2 of his apprenticeship and attends Oaklands college – St Albans where he is excelling in his studies.
Michael was born in South Africa and has German, English, and South African Heritage. He came to England in 2010 at 10 years of age and grew up in St Albans and later moved to Harpenden.
Michael has high aspirations; his mother is a head teacher, and his father has his own carpentry business where Michael had previously spent summers working with his father learning skills that he has been able to transfer to his job at Spokemead.
Before starting at Spokemead Michael spent time travelling around Australia and Thailand.
In his spare time, Michael enjoys playing football and is centre back for his local team. He is big West ham supporter and attends games when he can.
During his time at Spokemead Michael has managed to get his foot on the property ladder and has brought his first apartment in Welwyn Garden City.
Nicole Rooney was delighted that Michael had been awarded joint Apprenticeship of the Year award, she commented “At work Michael has proven to be exceptional on all levels. He is intelligent, diligent, punctual, polite, courteous and works extremely well with his team. He is the most desired apprentice at Spokemead and everyone would like him to be on their team. We are thoroughly impressed with Michael’s progression so far and have high hopes for his future.”
Michael Voigt
Left to right: Tommy Rickwood, Electrical Apprentice at R Dunham being presented his award and Amazon voucher for £500, from Operational Supervisor Adam Scott.
Tommy Rickwood joined R Dunham in late 2021, and quickly settled in and became an integral and well thought of Apprentice and a valued team member.
He worked with different engineers on a wide variety of jobs in his first year, and it wasn’t long before we realised we had an excellent engineer in the making.
In the last six months, Tommy’s been promoted to an Improver role and has thrived in his new position. He has time for younger apprentices and on occasions, even supervising their work.
He is a popular member of the team, who gets on with everybody and is polite and respectful to our clients and residents.
Tommy is a real asset to the Group and we look forward to watching him progress in his career.
When Contract Manager Billy Beach was asked why he put Tommy forward for the nomination, he said, “Tommy has been working independently on voids, kitchen rewires and reactive repairs, Tommy has demonstrated that he is a reliable, trustworthy, and dedicated engineer. He is calm under stressful conditions, eager to learn and dedicated to making himself a fully qualified electrician.”
Tommy Rickwood
