What Katie did – and what’s next

Apprentice gas engineer Katie Jones from Burscough in Lancashire has been named Screwfix’s Trade Apprentice 2023. Registered Gas Engineer caught up with her to find out what was involved in the competition, why she chose to join the industry and what the future holds.

What made you decide to become an apprentice gas engineer?

I left school with 10 GCSEs and was pushed into doing A-Levels, which were not for me. I quickly changed courses and completed a BTEC in Public Services.

I took a few years out working at a pub close to home, and from that landed a job touring with Westlife doing the catering and dressing rooms.

Then Covid happened: we were in lockdown and I applied for a job at a mobile testing unit, where I worked for over a year. On one shift, a colleague who used to be a college assessor offered me some advice and pointed me in the direction of learning a trade.

I looked up the types of trade I could go into and found that gas engineering fit perfectly for what I was after. My plan for the future is to go into property and so I wanted a career which went hand in hand with that. Gas engineering/plumbing fit perfectly as it would give me the skills and qualifications to renovate properties myself and it didn’t involve having to go to university.

I started my apprenticeship just after my 21st birthday.

How did you get your apprenticeship?

I knew I would have to find a company and I contacted more than 30 businesses. The Heating People in Southport loved my CV but they were not looking to take on any apprentices as they already had one. They did offer me some work experience, however.

I had only completed a week’s work experience when they offered me a two-year apprenticeship as they could see potential in me. I then enrolled on the Gas Engineering apprenticeship course at Southport College.

What is involved in being an apprentice gas engineer?

My week involves one day at college and then the other four days are on-the-job training at work. At college, we spend the morning learning the theory side of the course and then the afternoon is spent in the workshop developing our practical skills.

During the two-year apprenticeship, you have to complete a workbook at college and a portfolio of your practical work. I have received amazing support both in work from colleagues and at college from my tutor and classmates. Apprenticeships offer skills for life while being paid to learn.

Why did you enter the Screwfix Trade Apprentice 2023?

I wanted to encourage more women into the trades. I feel like I have a lot to offer the industry and there is a gap for female plumbers and heating engineers as there still aren’t many. I thought being crowned Screwfix Trade Apprentice would be a step in the right direction.

When will you qualify fully?

I am hoping to be qualified very soon. I have just submitted my portfolio, which will get sent off to City & Guilds and then I will be able to apply to become Gas Safe registered.

I plan to stay with the Heating People for a few years as they have invested a lot of time and effort into my training and gone above and beyond, paying for me to complete extra courses alongside my apprenticeship. Although I will be qualified, there is still a lot to learn within the industry and so it would benefit me massively to gain as much knowledge as I can before I look to start out on my own.

I plan to employ apprentices and do what I can to encourage more women into the trades.

Katie, 23, won a career-boosting £10,000 prize bundle including tools, tech and training, after successfully competing against nine other stand-out apprentices from across the UK and Ireland.

As part of the two-day final, Katie faced a panel of industry experts, including representatives from Screwfix, NICEIC, CIPHE, the Federation of Master Builders and Screwfix Top Tradesperson 2022 Toby Peacock.

Sammy Ough, head of Marketing Communications at Screwfix, says: “Katie showed a genuine passion for the plumbing and heating industry and a desire to learn new skills as the industry looks towards a sustainable future. All the judges were really blown away with her professionalism and drive to go the extra mile for her customers. We’re looking forward to seeing where this accolade will take her career.”

What do your customers think of you?

Customers are always surprised to see a woman doing a trade, especially gas engineering and plumbing as it can be messy work.

Everyone is always very positive about it, though, and some even prefer it.

I was recently working at a house where two young girls told their mum they felt a lot more comfortable with a woman tradesperson. They had a lot of work going on and I was the first woman in the trades that they had come across.

I am never treated differently by my colleagues but nine times out of 10 times I do hear, “isn’t it lovely to see a woman doing this kind of work”.

Unfortunately I get the odd sexist comment now and again. These do not faze me; I would love to change the mindset of these people and prove that women are equally as capable of doing the job.

What would you say to your 12-year-old self?

I would say care less about what other people think of you. When I was 16 and choosing what career path to take, I considered everyone else’s opinions and was embarrassed to go down the route of an apprenticeship in a trade as it wasn’t the ‘normal’ thing to do.

Girls don’t get encouraged to learn a trade and so I believed I would get massively judged for doing so.

Now I realise it doesn’t matter what others think. I have skills for life and have come so far in the past two years. I can’t wait for what the future has in store for me. ■