A major employer in Wrexham is celebrating the success of its apprenticeship programme in employing young people into the medicines sector.
Wrexham based Wockhardt UK specialises in the supply of generic medicines and is one of the leading suppliers to the NHS. It currently employees 400 people at its Wrexham Industrial Estate facility and has been awarded the Investors in People Silver award, as well as the Corporate Heath Standard (CHS) Silver Award.
The firm introduced its apprenticeship scheme back in 2016, partnering with Glyndwr University to deliver the degree qualifications. Apprentice Sioned Bryden, aged 22 from Wrexham was one of the first to undertake the scheme at Wockhardt. She comments: “I came to Wockhardt straight from college. I knew that going down the traditional degree route was not for me. I wanted to get into work and learn on the job.
“My mum’s friend works in HR and she spotted and sent across the apprenticeship job advert. I’d not heard of Wockhardt before and after researching it was delighted that it was local to me and looked like a really interesting business.”
Sioned undertook an apprenticeship role as an export administrator and has just graduated with a 1st Class BA Honours degree in Business from Glyndwr University after four years of part-time study.
Since launching its apprenticeship programme Wockhardt UK has received numerous applications and employs apprentices at its Wrexham facility across a number of departments including export, information technology, production and quality assurance. The apprentice application process involves a full day interview as well as being observed undertaking a team building task to assess a candidate’s aptitude and approach to problem solving.
Sioned adds: “The scheme has been perfect for me. I’ve secured my business degree and met a really great team of work colleagues at Wockhardt. I would definitely recommend an apprenticeship degree and have already done so on LinkedIn. To have a salaried role with no student debt is so reassuring.
“Location was important as I live in Wrexham. I have spent 4.5 days in the office and have attended university from 1-7pm very Tuesday. All the assignments, notes and lectures were comprehensive, and it hasn’t been hard to juggle both work and study.”
Sioned has now been employed by Wockhardt into a full-time GDP Compliance and Export Coordinator role. She adds: “When I was at school, apprenticeship schemes were all about plumbing, or seemed to be trades focussed. Now, there are many more apprenticeships in business, and I’m thrilled that I took this route.”
To find out more about apprenticeship opportunities at Wockhardt UK contact [email protected]
